The Stats

Title: The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post

Author: Allison Pataki

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine Books (15 Mar, 2022)

Genre: General Fiction (Adult), Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Women’s Fiction

Trigger Warnings: Nazis, Violence

Read if you like: The Gilded Age, Rebecca Harkness

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Thank you to Allison Pataki, Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an electrical Advanced Review Copy of The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post. All opinions mentioned in this review are my own.

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The Review

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki tells the story of Marjorie Merriweather Post, the heiress to the Post cereal fortune and one of the wealthiest women in the United States. Growing up in Battle Creek, Michigan, Marjorie was inspired by her father’s self-made success with the Post cereal company and went on to make a name for herself as a philanthropist, hostess, and advocate. Pataki provides a detailed look at Marjorie’s life, including her role in the creation of the Post cereal company, her marriages, and her philanthropy.

One of the highlights of the book is the early sections on the creation of the Post cereal company. Pataki does a thorough job of exploring the history of the company and its impact on the American way of life. The amount and quality of treasures that Marjorie was able to bring home from Europe during her ambassadorship in the Soviet Union during WWII is also impressive and adds to the book’s historical detail.

However, some reviewers found the book to be slow-paced at times and felt that the emotional impact was lacking. Marjorie’s relationships and marriages, in particular, seemed to jump from one to the next and it was unclear why she was drawn to certain men. Despite this, Marjorie’s life was still full of beauty and grandeur and Pataki does a good job of capturing this in her writing.

My favorite part that explored the grandeur was describing her mansion Mar-A-Lago – which, I now believe having Donald Trump as the owner is a complete slap-in-the-face to everything Marjorie built. For those of you that do not know, upon her death, Marjorie, a silent philanthropist, bequeathed the property to the National Park Services, in hopes that the property would be open to the public and used for diplomatic state visits. Unfortunately, the maintenance costs were too high to maintain and it was returned to the Post Foundation. Trump then bought the property after purchasing the land between the house and the sea, threatening the Post family that he was going to build a skyscraper that would completely block the view. However, in the end, Trump “technically” used the property for what Marjorie originally wished when he was elected President and began referring the Mar-a-Lago as his “Winter White House.” Although, I wish we still remember Mar-a-Lago for the #MillennialGirlBoss that smashed Glass Roofs in the early 20th century instead of the Tyrant that bought it after.

Overall, The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post is a worthwhile read for those interested in history, book clubs, and historical fiction. While the book may not always hit the emotional depth that some readers may be looking for, it is still a captivating look at the life of a powerful and influential woman.

Overall, I give this novel a 4 out of 5 stars!