The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post ⭑⭑⭑⭒

Genre: Historical Fiction

First Publication: February 15, 2022

Print: 400 pages

Audio: 14 hours 35 minutes

Confetti Rating: 3.5 stars

REVIEW:

I don’t read many books of this genre, where a real woman’s life is given the historical fiction treatment. Generally I prefer my fiction to be 100% fictional, and my history to be 100% real. So I don’t know why I was so drawn to this account of Marjorie Merriweather Post’s life, but I just had to read it.*

Ms. Post was the heir to the General Foods empire, which started when her father invented Grape-Nuts cereal as an entirely new meal option for breakfast in 1897. As C.W. Post’s only child, she inherited his wealth and company at a time when women weren’t even allowed to vote! This put her in the situation of having the brains and vision to run the business without the required genitals to do so. Awkward.

She therefore busied herself with romantic relationships, children, jewelry and art, real estate development (such as Mar-a-Lago), and charitable endeavors. Her lifespan included WWI, the 1929 stock market crash, the Great Depression, WWII, and other significant mid-century events before her death in 1973. Through it all she remained one of the richest women in the world, because people gotta eat and her fortune came from accessible foods.

Allison Pataki’s take on Marjorie’s life has been well received, and she certainly did her research. I was captivated with this story of such a strong woman, though I wish she had chosen to write in the third person rather than the first. I would have found our heroine so much more endearing with that one stylistic shift. Consider these two sentences: “I’m so charitable that I financed a massive feeding center in New York during the Depression” vs. “She was so charitable that she financed a massive feeding center in New York during the Depression.” I also would have preferred a larger emphasis on her brains rather than her loins. Sure, she had a lot of men in her life, but the book ain’t called The Magnificent Men of Marjorie Post.

Despite those quibbles, The Magnificent LIVES of Marjorie Post is time well spent for lovers of historical fiction, strong women, and cereal.

*Okay, I do know why I had to read it then. It’s because I do in fact love cereal. Cereal is my favorite. Though Grape-Nuts are kind of weird. And what even is a Grape-Nut? Maybe the biggest grievance I have with the book is there’s no explanation of why a wheat and barley cereal would be called that. Once again I had to turn to my trusty BFF Wikipedia, who tells me, “The name may have come from the cereal's resemblance to grape seeds, or from its nutty flavor; C. W. Post may also have intended it to refer to its content of glucose, which Post called ‘grape sugar.’”

PUBLISHER SYNOPSIS:

Mrs. Post, the President and First Lady are here to see you. . . . So begins another average evening for Marjorie Merriweather Post. Presidents have come and gone, but she has hosted them all. Growing up in the modest farmlands of Battle Creek, Michigan, Marjorie was inspired by a few simple rules: always think for yourself, never take success for granted, and work hard - even when deemed American royalty, even while covered in imperial diamonds. Marjorie had an insatiable drive to live and love and to give more than she got. From crawling through Moscow warehouses to rescue the Tsar's treasures to outrunning the Nazis in London, from serving the homeless of the Great Depression to entertaining Roosevelts, Kennedys, and Hollywood's biggest stars, Marjorie Merriweather Post lived an epic life few could imagine.

Marjorie's journey began gluing cereal boxes in her father's barn as a young girl. No one could have predicted that C. W. Post's Cereal Company would grow into the General Foods empire and reshape the American way of life, with Marjorie as its heiress and leading lady. Not content to stay in her prescribed roles of high-society wife, mother, and hostess, Marjorie dared to demand more, making history in the process. Before turning thirty she amassed millions, becoming the wealthiest woman in the United States. But it was her life-force, advocacy, passion, and adventurous spirit that led to her stunning legacy.

And yet Marjorie's story, though full of beauty and grandeur, set in the palatial homes she built such as Mar-a-Lago, was equally marked by challenge and tumult. A wife four times over, Marjorie sought her happily-ever-after with the blue-blooded party boy who could not outrun his demons, the charismatic financier whose charm turned to betrayal, the international diplomat with a dark side, and the bon vivant whose shocking secrets would shake Marjorie and all of society. Marjorie did everything on a grand scale, especially when it came to love.

Bestselling and acclaimed author Allison Pataki has crafted an intimate portrait of a larger-than-life woman, a powerful story of one woman falling in love with her own voice and embracing her own power while shaping history in the process.