Cutting dash in high society

Enid

Author: Robert Wainwright Publisher: Allen & Unwin RRP: $32.99 Reviewer: Mary Ann Elliott

WHO does not savour stories of the rich and famous, especially those with a dash of eccentricity?

Robert Wainwright’s account of Enid Lindeman, an Australian country girl who cut a dash in high society in the world’s capitals is mesmerising.

The dazzling eldest daughter and heir to the Hunter Valley wine fortune, growing up in outer-suburban Strathfield, married off at 21 to a rich American businessman, twice her age, who she hardly knew, was the beginning of her rollercoaster ride through a tumultuous and glamorous life.

Enid sounds like a heroine from a romantic novel but she’s a real-life feisty and beautiful woman who lived her (literally) rich life to the full, with equally intriguing, four husbands, all of whom she outlived.

Her third, Marmaduke, called himself Duke and expected to be treated like one; a tyrant who demanded freshly ironed shoelaces each day! Enid’s last marriage to Valentine Castlerosse earned her the world’s most expensive house, La Fiorentina (sold for US $525 million in 2014).

They hosted parties that included regular guests John F Kennedy, Grace Kelly, Fred Astaire, Greta Garbo, Somerset Maugham and other celebrities. But

Valentine was a gambler and relied on Enid’s fortune left by previous spouses. Spanning four generations, including Enid’s children, the glitz and glamour of this story is irresistible.

Robert Wainwright has written a rollicking good tale but it’s also a vivid portrayal of an engaging and endearing character and brilliant evocation of a now bygone era.