This is a wonderfully written book about Hetty Green. Sharing the same hometown as her, I had heard of her from time to time growing up, usually in local History classes. But this book really opened my eyes to her and how she lived her life.
Reading about New Bedford, Ma in the mid 1800's and onward, and how she traveled between there and New York, yet not ever really setting down roots, because she refused to pay taxes, especially nowadays, made me chuckle and, yes, admire her!
She was strong, intelligent and her business acumen sharp as a tack.
Learning about her family, her shrewd mind for business and how she lived her life was extremely interesting.
And I learned, at my ever increasing age, that the huge mansion we would see when we went to the beach at Round Hill in S. Dartmouth with my grandmother every summer, belonged to her son. I'd never connected "Colonel Green" with Hetty Green. I've really enjoyed this book. Easy to read, not weighed down with pithy details. Definitely worth the read!
Fascinating and compelling. A well-written and researched book about a great character.
We recently read this interesting book for our book group. Hetty was wonderful character.
If you read the first two-thirds of this book and the Wikipedia page on Hetty Green, you might wonder if these were two different women. The first two-thirds of this book book introduces you to the richest woman of her time, and perhaps also the most pitiful. It is only in the last third that Hetty Green's assistance to banks, cities, and charitable organizations is revealed. Still, her family life isn't one we would all want.
Only after her death did the newspapers, which once vilified her, write articles praising her financial acumen and generosity.
Trivia : Being Brooklyn-born myself, I was interested in reading the Brooklyn Dodgers, now the Los Angles Dodgers, originally got their name due to the necessity of Brooklyn residents having to dodge the numerous trolley cars on the streets. Apparently they were often called Trolley Dodgers, and that name was given to the baseball team and later shortened to just Dodgers. A search of the web supports this.
Very well written account about a very interesting, probably misunderstood woman. A real page-turner.
Christy K. (dragonflies) reviewed Hetty: The Genius and Madness of America's First Female Tycoon on + 66 more book reviews 
