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Love and Death Behind the Gates of Palm Beach
Hyperion
February 2009
On Sale: January 27, 2009
368 pages
ISBN: 1401322913
EAN: 9781401322915
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction History
In March of 1999, a Palm Beach matron and her socially
ambitious husband invited the elite of the island for a
dinner dance honoring Prince Edward. Among those dancing to
the string orchestra that evening would be those accused of
murder and spousal abuse, and others who would suffer fates
both unseemly and unspeakable. Among the outer circle there
would be murders, suicides and fatal fires. There would be
those who would rise from the dust of obscurity to the
heights of wealth, and those who would fall to oblivion and
disgrace. Thus begins Madness Under the
Royal Palms. Leave it to Laurence Leamer, the
bestselling author known for getting the inside story on his
elusive subjects, to take us behind the walls of America's
most exclusive enclave of wealth and privilege. In
Madness, Leamer tells a braided story involving a
socialite determined to make it to the top of Palm Beach
society, two infamous murders, and a powerful society
reporter. As a backdrop, Leamer tells the story of the clash
between old money and new, religion and status, and the
love, lust, and fatal hatreds that determine the shape of a
fiercely protected society. The cast of characters include
trophy wives, trophy husbands, purported gigolos, glamorous
widows, a pioneering gay couple, a wildly irreverent event
planner, a sociopathic multimillionaire, and an elegant
society queen. For a hundred years, Palm Beach has
been a fantasy land nurtured by, and maintained for, the
megawealthy. In the end, Leamer's tale of money, murder, and
mad pretension reveals a darker strain. Uncovering that
strain, as the author himself writes, "turned into as
fascinating, in some cases as shocking, and always as
unexpected a journey as I have ever taken."
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