The World’s Wealthiest Women: Fascinating Biographies of Heiresses, Royals, Entrepreneurs, and Entertainers

Historian Wagman-Geller (A Room of Their Own) spotlights 25 of history’s richest women in this elegant survey. She begins with hair care mogul Madame C.J. Walker, America’s first self-made female millionaire. Walker once remarked, “I got my start by giving myself a start,” and the author emphasizes her gumption, a trait she shares with others profiled here, such as Dolly Parton, who amassed wealth as an entertainer because of her business acumen. There’s more than one route to wealth, though, as these bios make clear. Among those who married rich are Zsa Zsa Gabor, who as a teen wed a diplomat and, divorcing him six months later, walked away rich, a feat she repeated several times across her subsequent nine marriages. (Of her fifth husband, she said: “He taught me housekeeping. When I divorce, I keep the house.”) Among the women who stole their wealth is Imelda Marcos, who, with her husband Francesco, the president of the Philippines, looted the government’s coffers. When the couple fled the country in 1986, Imelda left behind a fortune in clothes, including 1,060 pairs of shoes. But of course, the author wryly suggests, money doesn’t buy happiness. As Athina Onassis noted of the legal wrangling over her inheritance: “If I burn the money, there will be no problem. No money, no problem.” Readers will be enchanted by these profiles in success and excess. (Mar.)