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The Millionaire's Daughter
Christabel Spencer's life had been carefully planned before she was even born. This cherished child of New York's newest millionaire would have every luxury that money could buy... and more.
Each moment was leading Chrissie to the fulfillment of her father's dream. She was charming and wealthy. An irresistible combination--sure to attract an eligible English aristocrat.
But Chrissie was determined not to marry for social position alone. She knew she could not live without love. And she would find it at any cost.
Each moment was leading Chrissie to the fulfillment of her father's dream. She was charming and wealthy. An irresistible combination--sure to attract an eligible English aristocrat.
But Chrissie was determined not to marry for social position alone. She knew she could not live without love. And she would find it at any cost.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
295 people are currently reading
322 people want to read
About the author
Dorothy Eden
93 books166 followersAka Mary Paradise.
Dorothy Eden was born in 1912 in New Zealand and died in 1982. She moved to England in 1954 after taking a trip around the world and falling in love with the country. She was best known for her many mystery and romance books as well as short stories that were published in periodicals. As a novelist, Dorothy Eden was renowned for her ability to create fear and suspense. This earned her many devoted readers throughout her lifetime.
Dorothy Eden was born in 1912 in New Zealand and died in 1982. She moved to England in 1954 after taking a trip around the world and falling in love with the country. She was best known for her many mystery and romance books as well as short stories that were published in periodicals. As a novelist, Dorothy Eden was renowned for her ability to create fear and suspense. This earned her many devoted readers throughout her lifetime.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
June 15, 2024
Take The Money! (Sounds so shallow, but we’ll see)…
Just hate when people do things that are stupid, because they think it makes them so “noble!”
Covering the gilded age period of New York and England and parts of Europe, Dorothy Eden weaves a tale of the Spencer family.
Harry Spencer was born in poverty in England, but he has worked hard and is a millionaire. His wife Louisa comes from an impoverished “good family” from Virginia.
After the unexpected death of their little boy, Henry, daughter Christabal is their only child. Naturally, she grows up spoiled, but loving, and when she is nineteen, her parents take her on a husband-hunting trip to England.
She promptly falls in love with the most unacceptable man of the aristocracy. But she is determined to marry him, despite what advice she is given.
I won’t continue my review. You’ll have to read the book to see how it turns out.
Three stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Just hate when people do things that are stupid, because they think it makes them so “noble!”
Covering the gilded age period of New York and England and parts of Europe, Dorothy Eden weaves a tale of the Spencer family.
Harry Spencer was born in poverty in England, but he has worked hard and is a millionaire. His wife Louisa comes from an impoverished “good family” from Virginia.
After the unexpected death of their little boy, Henry, daughter Christabal is their only child. Naturally, she grows up spoiled, but loving, and when she is nineteen, her parents take her on a husband-hunting trip to England.
She promptly falls in love with the most unacceptable man of the aristocracy. But she is determined to marry him, despite what advice she is given.
I won’t continue my review. You’ll have to read the book to see how it turns out.
Three stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
October 2, 2011
Harry Spencer is one of New York's *new* millionaires, but he needs a wife from the one of the older families to give him some respectability and much to the chagrin of Mary Ellen Van Leyden, he settles on her younger sister Louisa. Not a love match, but Harry is kind and generous and Louisa makes do, eventually giving him a son and a daughter. Despite an extremely sheltered life (can't tell you why without spoiling), Christabel (Chrissie) is ready to take on the world when she reaches maturity and doting Harry is determined to get her a Duke or an Earl for a husband - no mere New York millionaire for his daughter. Chrissie sets her heart on the older soon-to-be Earl of Monkshood on the death of his ailing father and is determined to have her way and marry him - divorced or not.
To avoid spoiling that's about as far as I'll go. No surprise, but there's a bit of a mystery surrounding Monkshood and his scandalous divorce (why did his first wife leave him?), but I suspect today's jaded reader (the book was written in the 1970's) will pick up on the big reveal rather early on and that is why it's only getting three stars from me. Not bad at all, and a quick easy read for a dreary weekend afternoon when one isn't in the mood to tax the brain. Eden is a good solid writer and she's written plenty of them, and fairly easy to find at the used book/library sales.
To avoid spoiling that's about as far as I'll go. No surprise, but there's a bit of a mystery surrounding Monkshood and his scandalous divorce (why did his first wife leave him?), but I suspect today's jaded reader (the book was written in the 1970's) will pick up on the big reveal rather early on and that is why it's only getting three stars from me. Not bad at all, and a quick easy read for a dreary weekend afternoon when one isn't in the mood to tax the brain. Eden is a good solid writer and she's written plenty of them, and fairly easy to find at the used book/library sales.
March 1, 2020
Another great, mostly fluffy read. Not silly, just mostly pleasant and moves along at a steady clip.
July 28, 2019
What utter tripe. After reading Edens other stuff I thought this was more of the same Gothic suspense stuff but it was boring plot less banal boring sht.
December 5, 2018
The first half of the book or so is more about Harry the Millionaire's Wife Louisa, than about his Daughter Chrissie. One irony of this book, to me, is that Harry is presented as the one who is trying to direct Chrissie's life, but when crunch time comes, it's Louisa who encourages Chrissie into doing something exceptionally stupid, seemingly as an attempt for Louisa to live out "choices unmade."
Aside from thinking Louisa both selfish and weak, I could not for the life of me see what either Louisa or Chrissie saw in the men they fell madly in love with. Louisa's lover had no personality whatsoever. And my eyes can't roll high enough to express what I thought of Louisa's insistence that she's "too honest" to take a lover while married to Harry, while at the same time she's perfectly willing to court, kiss, and plan on running away with another man, while still being married to Harry.
And it's one thing for the author to tell me that Monkshood so effectively charmed Chrissie, a young girl with no experience in the world. But how credible is it that Harry, before handing over his beloved daughter, makes no effort whatsoever to find out anything about Monkshood's first marriage or why it ended? We're told in the first chapter about Harry's social instincts and his ability to read people, and also how devoted he is to long-term planning and thinking ahead, and we've seen all through the book what a managing busybody he is, and how devoted he is to Chrissie's happiness, yet he takes a total hands off approach to the whole Monkshood situation, which I did not find credible.
I also would have liked to see a lot more about Harry's views on various events. The book starts with him and nearly ends with him, but he's quickly shoved aside for Louisa, who could be an interesting character, but too often tends to be a dithering whiner who blames others for everything that goes wrong in her life. Worse, near the end the author has Louisa consider a serious dilemma where she could make a highly significant choice -- then promptly takes the choice away from Louisa by just giving her what she wants, without Louisa having to do something truly wicked to get it. Bah.
Throughout the book Louisa whines about Harry, and I'm still not sure if I was supposed to see Harry as a much better person than Louisa, or not. Much of the book is told from Louisa's perspective, and the author seems to favor Louisa and her perspective on things. But while Harry certainly has his flaws, in the end I think Harry is a far better person than Louisa is.
Not a great book, and not a brilliant story, but it did entertain me.
Aside from thinking Louisa both selfish and weak, I could not for the life of me see what either Louisa or Chrissie saw in the men they fell madly in love with. Louisa's lover had no personality whatsoever. And my eyes can't roll high enough to express what I thought of Louisa's insistence that she's "too honest" to take a lover while married to Harry, while at the same time she's perfectly willing to court, kiss, and plan on running away with another man, while still being married to Harry.
And it's one thing for the author to tell me that Monkshood so effectively charmed Chrissie, a young girl with no experience in the world. But how credible is it that Harry, before handing over his beloved daughter, makes no effort whatsoever to find out anything about Monkshood's first marriage or why it ended? We're told in the first chapter about Harry's social instincts and his ability to read people, and also how devoted he is to long-term planning and thinking ahead, and we've seen all through the book what a managing busybody he is, and how devoted he is to Chrissie's happiness, yet he takes a total hands off approach to the whole Monkshood situation, which I did not find credible.
I also would have liked to see a lot more about Harry's views on various events. The book starts with him and nearly ends with him, but he's quickly shoved aside for Louisa, who could be an interesting character, but too often tends to be a dithering whiner who blames others for everything that goes wrong in her life. Worse, near the end the author has Louisa consider a serious dilemma where she could make a highly significant choice -- then promptly takes the choice away from Louisa by just giving her what she wants, without Louisa having to do something truly wicked to get it. Bah.
Throughout the book Louisa whines about Harry, and I'm still not sure if I was supposed to see Harry as a much better person than Louisa, or not. Much of the book is told from Louisa's perspective, and the author seems to favor Louisa and her perspective on things. But while Harry certainly has his flaws, in the end I think Harry is a far better person than Louisa is.
Not a great book, and not a brilliant story, but it did entertain me.
October 12, 2016
Yuck. No plot to speak of. Good description of late 1800s New York and the development of NYC. Family sourced from an impoverished English immigrant and a poor, but well connected VA belle. Went on and on but got no where! Just on principle I finished.
January 23, 2023
Me gustó mucho la narración. Tiene ciertas ideas que ya no son correctas, al ser una novela que retrata el siglo XIX, escrito en los 70s del XX. No diría que es una joya literaria pero me entretuvo mucho rato por todo el drama y la tragedia que le sucede a la familia protagonista
June 25, 2009
19th century love story of a beautiful heiress.
October 17, 2019
Suspend Your Disbelief
If you are drawn to this title, as I was, then you realize that you are in for a bit of a tall tale about wealth, glitter and all that comes with being an heiress. I will say that for most of the book, Eden presents a plausible and engaging story. It was interesting to see Harry Spencer move from his first touch of success through his marriage to a high born lady, and on to the birth of his children and his steady rise to mogul status. The interwoven story of his wife Louisa's troubled family and his plucky Cockney mother add dimension to what could have been a flat superficial story. When Harry's family is attacked by jealous rogue elements among those he has displaced in his quest to wipe out slums and rebuild a new New York, the story gets darker and even more absorbing. My only beef with the book comes in the last quarter when the heiress, Chrissie, marries her Earl. The inevitable fall from grace is clumsily foreshadowed from the first. A reader would have to be asleep to not see what her husband's "problem" was. Yet, even that was believable. However, Chrissie's reaction to the dissolution of her ideal marriage and subsequent struggle as a regular working person is totally unbelievable, as is her father's intransigence about lending a hand to a child to which he could deny nothing up to this point. The ending was a big disappointment, but even so, the book delivered a pleasant fantasy of immense wealth and the consequences thereof, and maybe that is all we wanted from a book like this from the start.
If you are drawn to this title, as I was, then you realize that you are in for a bit of a tall tale about wealth, glitter and all that comes with being an heiress. I will say that for most of the book, Eden presents a plausible and engaging story. It was interesting to see Harry Spencer move from his first touch of success through his marriage to a high born lady, and on to the birth of his children and his steady rise to mogul status. The interwoven story of his wife Louisa's troubled family and his plucky Cockney mother add dimension to what could have been a flat superficial story. When Harry's family is attacked by jealous rogue elements among those he has displaced in his quest to wipe out slums and rebuild a new New York, the story gets darker and even more absorbing. My only beef with the book comes in the last quarter when the heiress, Chrissie, marries her Earl. The inevitable fall from grace is clumsily foreshadowed from the first. A reader would have to be asleep to not see what her husband's "problem" was. Yet, even that was believable. However, Chrissie's reaction to the dissolution of her ideal marriage and subsequent struggle as a regular working person is totally unbelievable, as is her father's intransigence about lending a hand to a child to which he could deny nothing up to this point. The ending was a big disappointment, but even so, the book delivered a pleasant fantasy of immense wealth and the consequences thereof, and maybe that is all we wanted from a book like this from the start.
June 16, 2021
I enjoyed Ms Eden's books when I was an early teenager. This one was written in 1974, and I found it on Thriftbooks for enough to get me free shipping on another item I wanted, so I bought it and one other Eden novel.
Reading it again, in 2021, I was surprised to think of how it would be viewed today with our socially correct mandates. It reflects the time it was written in. Interesting that it had some controversial topics that are still relevant, though.
I liked Dorothy Eden's book because they took me into the Victorian era, before I met Jane Austen's books. There is always a mystery suspense and romance element. This one is about a girl who grows up under her rich father's thumb. He loves her but she is a pawn in a way, to carry out his carefully planned life story. Of course everything cannot be controlled with power and money, even when one has mostly good intentions. There are subplots with other important characters and Ms Eden does a nice job developing them, as well. I thought I remembered the ending but was having a hard time convincing myself that I was right. I was reading it to my husband on a road trip and he didn't guess the ending. The book does a nice job showing how complex life can be.
This book was special to me because the heroine is named Christabel and while I was reading this book the first time, my long anticipated baby sister was yet to be born and getting the idea from this book, we named her Crista.
Reading it again, in 2021, I was surprised to think of how it would be viewed today with our socially correct mandates. It reflects the time it was written in. Interesting that it had some controversial topics that are still relevant, though.
I liked Dorothy Eden's book because they took me into the Victorian era, before I met Jane Austen's books. There is always a mystery suspense and romance element. This one is about a girl who grows up under her rich father's thumb. He loves her but she is a pawn in a way, to carry out his carefully planned life story. Of course everything cannot be controlled with power and money, even when one has mostly good intentions. There are subplots with other important characters and Ms Eden does a nice job developing them, as well. I thought I remembered the ending but was having a hard time convincing myself that I was right. I was reading it to my husband on a road trip and he didn't guess the ending. The book does a nice job showing how complex life can be.
This book was special to me because the heroine is named Christabel and while I was reading this book the first time, my long anticipated baby sister was yet to be born and getting the idea from this book, we named her Crista.
December 1, 2025
Very much a book of its time, to say the least. Also, the supposed plot based on the cover's synopsis only made up about the last 10% of the book, which happened to also be the worst part. In some ways the way the characters think here is probably more accurate to how people actually would have at the time written about, but still. Even aside from that, no real plot to speak of, and the ending is unrealistic enough that even suspending belief won't make it entirely readable. Oh well.
March 26, 2019
It was a fine story, a bit repetitious but ok. Easy flow, interesting enough, makes me smile at how "macho" men were in those years, no wonder the women finally became suffragettes! I enjoyed this story, found it easy reading; this is not the type of book I would place on my list of "read again" but it was still a pleasant read.
May 20, 2022
Curled up on the sofa with tissues for the final few chapters--I needed this read.
I always give an extra star for books that make me cry.
Solid [gothic] family saga.
Yes, I saw most of what was coming, but Eden handles things with grace and just the right amount of character insight and dread. Even if you don't like the characters, you feel for them.
I always give an extra star for books that make me cry.
Solid [gothic] family saga.
Yes, I saw most of what was coming, but Eden handles things with grace and just the right amount of character insight and dread. Even if you don't like the characters, you feel for them.
May 10, 2023
Set in late 1800s /early 1900s, (written in 1974) Christie is a wealthy heiress who is determined to marry for love. Going against her parents wishes, she marries an Earl, who is a bit older than her, but although she loves him, he cannot love her like she wants him to.
There's more to the story than that, but it does seem to fizzle out at the end. Kind of enjoyed it. 3 stars
There's more to the story than that, but it does seem to fizzle out at the end. Kind of enjoyed it. 3 stars
June 2, 2017
Growing up can be hard...
Dorothy Eden is a masterful storyteller. Every emotion the characters feel is as real as though I was experiencing them myself. I have laughed, been indignant and cried at different stages of the book. I love the unexpected twist at the end.
Dorothy Eden is a masterful storyteller. Every emotion the characters feel is as real as though I was experiencing them myself. I have laughed, been indignant and cried at different stages of the book. I love the unexpected twist at the end.
May 10, 2017
Good read
Interesting view on money and it's affect on people. If you were terribly poor as a child, you are frequently obsessed with making it ; and vice versa
Interesting view on money and it's affect on people. If you were terribly poor as a child, you are frequently obsessed with making it ; and vice versa
June 6, 2017
I never read her books before. I so loved this one. Must read if you like twists and good love story.
July 26, 2017
Good story
Very good book although it ended too quickly the story could of gone a little longer. Good but also more on what happened in the future.
Very good book although it ended too quickly the story could of gone a little longer. Good but also more on what happened in the future.
April 10, 2018
Meh.
I can't decide if I liked this book or not. I think mostly not, but I just don't care much one way or the other.
I can't decide if I liked this book or not. I think mostly not, but I just don't care much one way or the other.
December 31, 2018
Not a particularly exciting plot, but at least it was a quick read.
February 25, 2020
Good Historical Fiction!
Couldn't put this book down! Well written. Flowing dialogue and convincing characters. Am looking forward to reading more of this author
Couldn't put this book down! Well written. Flowing dialogue and convincing characters. Am looking forward to reading more of this author
April 2, 2020
Easy read, not mentally taxing or challenging. Enjoyable, but not special.
Currently reading
May 19, 2020A predictable, mindless read. I kept guessing what was going to happen before it happened. I would recommend this book as a good quarantine book to read. It won’t tax your brain
October 22, 2020
Enjoyable
But not an awful lot to the story. Characters were all very different from each other and sometimes I wonder how they could spend time together.
But not an awful lot to the story. Characters were all very different from each other and sometimes I wonder how they could spend time together.
April 7, 2021
Nice easy read.
March 8, 2022
This is a golden oldie from my romantic teenager years, and yet it’s held up to the test of time.
April 3, 2025
This was so good, like, I didn't expect it to be so entertaining and so profound in some ways. It was an excellent Gilded Age read.
July 31, 2025
I reached page 140 and asked myself is this ever going to end. then I slammed the book shut. I love Dorothy Eden but this was just plain boring
May 13, 2017
Very unrealistic. I would not recommend this book
March 22, 2009
An old novel I read while travelling. Written well. Regarding a poor man who became a millionaire and his family. He unabashedly desired riches and "things", to be accepted in high class homes, etc. His daughter accepted his wishes until she became involved in a difficult situation and she had to grow up and choose the life she believed in and could live with. Strong characters, down to earth. Good story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews