Book Review: ‘The Phantom Of Fifth Avenue’ Tells The Mysterious Life Story Of Huguette Clark

‘The Phantom Of Fifth Avenue’ tells the story of the mysterious, rich woman Huguette Clark who made Howard Hughes seem like a normal person. She was extremely rich, yet led a very isolated life. In the last half of her life she refused to see most people, wouldn’t leave her high rise apartment until she developed skin cancer and had to go to the hospital and stayed for the last 20 years of her life. She had a staff the attended to her every need around the clock. They also seemed to take advantage of her and her money.

She was born the second sister to her father’s second marriage. He had four previous kids from his first family, who never approved of their father’s second marriage. Huguette got to travel and live a very enjoyable life of riches and excess but she never found love. She was married one time and it didn’t work out after eight months. Painting was her passion and she loved art and her doll collections.

Never close or wanted to be to her family, she barely talked to any of them. She had a few close friends that she would take care of. After refusing to sign wills over most of her life, she signed two different ones in the last years of her life. One included money for her family, the other one did not. The last one left money to her lawyers, her nurse and others close to her. When the family started investigating her, they felt things were not right. After her death a big battle over her money and wills were fought with various people trying to get some.

Author Meryl Gordon has done the most incredible job of researching her life and finding out everything she could. With exclusive access to over 70 boxes of personal stuff, interviews with the family, close friends, hospital staff and lawyers, she has written the ultimate book. Every detail of her life is covered from birth to death. I found I couldn’t put the book down until I finished it.

You can pick it up in stores now.