Gilded Lily by Isabel Vincent

Gilded Lily by Isabel Vincent

The mesmerizing biography of one of the world's richest, most intriguing women--philanthropist and socialite Lily Safra

In the early morning of December 3, 1999, Lily Safra stood shivering in her nightgown on the grounds outside her sumptuous Monte Carlo penthouse where, just hours before, her fourth husband, reclusive billionaire Edmond Safra, died in a fire. An American nurse employed by the Safra family was eventually convicted of the arson death. Overnight, Lily became one of the wealthiest widows in the world.

The Brazilian-born Lily Safra was no stranger to tragedy. In 1969, her second husband, the Brazilian multimillionaire Alfredo Monteverde, died from two gunshots to the chest. The Brazilian authorities ruled it a suicide. In 1989, her beloved eldest son and four-year-old grandson died in a car accident. But just who is Lily Safra? Despite having become a fixture in society columns for her generous charity work and lavish parties, the elegant and enigmatic widow has remained in the background.

Gilded Lily tells Lily Safra's story for the first time. Using archival sources, court documents, and interviews with childhood friends and former employees in South America, investigative journalist Isabel Vincent chronicle's Safra's rise from humble origins in Brazil to fabled wealth in London, New York, and Monaco.

Vincent, Isabel: - Isabel Vincent is an investigative reporter for the New York Post. Previously, she was a foreign correspondent based in Rio de Janeiro and before that she covered the conflicts that led to the war in Kosovo. Her work has appeared in magazines and newspapers all over the world, including the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, L'Officiel, and Time. She is the author of four books: Gilded Lily: Lily Safra: The Making of One of the World's Wealthiest Widows; Bodies and Souls: The Tragic Plight of Three Jewish Women Forced into Prostitution in the Americas; Hitler's Silent Partners: Swiss Banks, Nazi Gold and the Pursuit of Justice; and See No Evil: The Strange Case of Christine Lamont and David Spencer. The recipient of numerous journalism honors, including the Canadian Association of Journalist's Award for Excellence in Investigative Journalism, she has been a journalism fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto. Vincent won the National Jewish Book Award in Canada for Bodies and Souls and the Yad Vashem Award for Holocaust History for Hitler's Silent Partners. She grew up in Toronto and speaks French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Today, she lives in New York.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780061133947
ISBN 10	0061133949
Title	Gilded Lily
Author	Isabel Vincent
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Year published	2011-06-28
Number of pages	352
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable