What do you think?
Rate this book
The World's Wealthiest Women: Fascinating Biographies of Heiresses, Royals, Entrepreneurs, and Entertainers
291 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 3, 2026
About the author
Marlene Wagman-Geller
17 books71 followersMarlene Wagman-Geller grew up in Toronto and is a lifelong bibliophile. She is a veteran high school English teacher in National City, California, and currently lives in San Diego.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 14, 2026
Just drop me off at the palace around the corner.
This author and I share a lot in common. We both teach and love it. We both enjoy history and the evolution of civilization, recognizing, I think, that the kings and queens of old are still around, just in modern form. We both enjoy a good tale and have fun telling it.
This book, and several others we’ve been reading lately since Gilded Age’s debut on TV, have been eye opening for me, and I read history and teach it. I’ve often been asked, What would you do with untold wealth?” That’s easy…I’d give it away.
How much do you need to be happy? What is the common thread of those who have great wealth? The answer is rich people want more. More of everything is usually the common thread.
My Great Aunt Frederica Sagor Maas lived a charmed life, born in NYC in 1900 and dying in San Diego in 2012. When asked how she managed to attain such a venerable age, she answered, “Lots of sex, drugs, and alcohol.” She kept her wits to the end and wrote her autobiography at 99, traveling the morning show circuit to discuss Hollywood and silent film. Her mother walked her through Central Park as a child and would stop in front of the Carnegie mansion and wave at Mr. Carnegie as he took his constitutional in his barouche carriage. He would daily doff his top hat.
I love this book, my second by Marlene Wagman-Geller. I have sat with my coffee in the morning when my wonderful partner, Jessica, goes to school to earn a late degree in life. I’m a Ph.D of a certain age and she’s a thirty-three year old sophomore. She reads what she missed when she comes home and I fall asleep in bed. But I like my Monday mornings with Marlene. I feel like we’re sitting together and she’s telling me stories. It’s intimate and a shared experience.
I would read anything by Marlene. She knows what I like and knows how to spin a tale. The women in this book lived curiously detached lives. Wealth didn’t bring happiness. It just bought lots of material things. I’ve had money, lost it, regained it, and now live a modest life. To some, Jess and I are rich. We are not, but we have a roof over our heads, eat what we like, travel, and support two daughters as they need it. The women in these pages in one day could exceed my lifetime of earnings as a museum curator, and later as an architect. I have contributed to society as best I could. I have no regrets. These women, however, and so many like them today, could have changed the world but mostly didn’t.
I hope the days of exorbitant wealth are coming to a close. But reading about these women is not so different from the lives of monarchs and the aristocracy of old, and it’s a darn good yarn.
Rebecca Branch
This author and I share a lot in common. We both teach and love it. We both enjoy history and the evolution of civilization, recognizing, I think, that the kings and queens of old are still around, just in modern form. We both enjoy a good tale and have fun telling it.
This book, and several others we’ve been reading lately since Gilded Age’s debut on TV, have been eye opening for me, and I read history and teach it. I’ve often been asked, What would you do with untold wealth?” That’s easy…I’d give it away.
How much do you need to be happy? What is the common thread of those who have great wealth? The answer is rich people want more. More of everything is usually the common thread.
My Great Aunt Frederica Sagor Maas lived a charmed life, born in NYC in 1900 and dying in San Diego in 2012. When asked how she managed to attain such a venerable age, she answered, “Lots of sex, drugs, and alcohol.” She kept her wits to the end and wrote her autobiography at 99, traveling the morning show circuit to discuss Hollywood and silent film. Her mother walked her through Central Park as a child and would stop in front of the Carnegie mansion and wave at Mr. Carnegie as he took his constitutional in his barouche carriage. He would daily doff his top hat.
I love this book, my second by Marlene Wagman-Geller. I have sat with my coffee in the morning when my wonderful partner, Jessica, goes to school to earn a late degree in life. I’m a Ph.D of a certain age and she’s a thirty-three year old sophomore. She reads what she missed when she comes home and I fall asleep in bed. But I like my Monday mornings with Marlene. I feel like we’re sitting together and she’s telling me stories. It’s intimate and a shared experience.
I would read anything by Marlene. She knows what I like and knows how to spin a tale. The women in this book lived curiously detached lives. Wealth didn’t bring happiness. It just bought lots of material things. I’ve had money, lost it, regained it, and now live a modest life. To some, Jess and I are rich. We are not, but we have a roof over our heads, eat what we like, travel, and support two daughters as they need it. The women in these pages in one day could exceed my lifetime of earnings as a museum curator, and later as an architect. I have contributed to society as best I could. I have no regrets. These women, however, and so many like them today, could have changed the world but mostly didn’t.
I hope the days of exorbitant wealth are coming to a close. But reading about these women is not so different from the lives of monarchs and the aristocracy of old, and it’s a darn good yarn.
Rebecca Branch
March 22, 2026
Every time Marlene Wagman-Geller has a new book, I tell myself I will just dabble in it, choosing a chapter here and there. I always end up saying, “wait a minute!” as she hooks me with some amazing detail about each subject’s life. She’s done it again, postponing my bedtime with yet another wonderful book, The World’s Wealthiest Women.
Scandalous, sad, scary, sweet--those are just the words that start with “S” that come to mind reading this book. But there’s a lot more scandal than sweetness. It’s a mystery to me why a person born into squalor who finds herself rich beyond her wildest dreams would so quickly come to see that wealth as her due, rather than seeing it as an opportunity to do good in the world. There are plenty of those in this book, though their stories bring guilty pleasure in reading how their problems came to match the size of their wealth.
There’s a real difference here between a chance encounter that led to marriage into the Murdoch fortune like Wendi Deng, or daughters born into huge fortunes like Athina Onassis, and stories of coming up from nothing to great wealth by their own merits, such as Dolly Parton and Helena Rubenstein. Though Parton’s story is well known, Helena’s is not, and it is one of the best in the book. At 24, Helena went to Australia, where she observed the sun damage on women’s skin and, despite her dumpy frame and strong Yiddish accent, used her mother’s cold cream formula (which after he death was determined to be no more magical than vegetable oil, mineral oil and wax) to start her career as one of the most glamorous women in the cosmetics industry.
A hallmark of any Wagman book is her wry and delicious sense of humor. One of my favorites in the book is her observation of Ivana Trump that she “she had a craving for Italian–and not of the food variety,” going on to describe several affairs with Italian men after her divorce from the Donald.
Wagman is tireless in seeking out women who have been forgotten or misrepresented or are just plain fascinating, creating a huge wake with their charisma and guts. This book is a mix of those women and others and is not to be missed.
Scandalous, sad, scary, sweet--those are just the words that start with “S” that come to mind reading this book. But there’s a lot more scandal than sweetness. It’s a mystery to me why a person born into squalor who finds herself rich beyond her wildest dreams would so quickly come to see that wealth as her due, rather than seeing it as an opportunity to do good in the world. There are plenty of those in this book, though their stories bring guilty pleasure in reading how their problems came to match the size of their wealth.
There’s a real difference here between a chance encounter that led to marriage into the Murdoch fortune like Wendi Deng, or daughters born into huge fortunes like Athina Onassis, and stories of coming up from nothing to great wealth by their own merits, such as Dolly Parton and Helena Rubenstein. Though Parton’s story is well known, Helena’s is not, and it is one of the best in the book. At 24, Helena went to Australia, where she observed the sun damage on women’s skin and, despite her dumpy frame and strong Yiddish accent, used her mother’s cold cream formula (which after he death was determined to be no more magical than vegetable oil, mineral oil and wax) to start her career as one of the most glamorous women in the cosmetics industry.
A hallmark of any Wagman book is her wry and delicious sense of humor. One of my favorites in the book is her observation of Ivana Trump that she “she had a craving for Italian–and not of the food variety,” going on to describe several affairs with Italian men after her divorce from the Donald.
Wagman is tireless in seeking out women who have been forgotten or misrepresented or are just plain fascinating, creating a huge wake with their charisma and guts. This book is a mix of those women and others and is not to be missed.
March 28, 2026
What do wealthiest women have in common? From being born into a sharecroppers poverty or into an opulent bassinet. A drive and will to do better on their own terms. Rebuffing family traditions, religious stereotypes or male female roles, these women set forth on a journey of self discovery fueled by ambition and a tremendous inner need to succeed. I can remember Diane von Furstenberg, who turned a $30,000. investment into a $100 million dollar enterprise. Dolly Parton, who was born into utter poverty, living conditions without electricity or plumbing. Marlene Wagman-Geller (Author) writes with exquisite wit and descriptive depth bringing these incredible women to life. You will keep reading and turning the pages wanting to understand and learn more. about these fascinating women. A fun wonderful read.
March 20, 2026
Wagman-Geller has done it again—delivering another dazzling collection of mini-biographies brimming with fabulous and fascinating women. Some built their fortunes from nothing, while others inherited wealth or gained it through marriage, but all lived lives that astound the imagination. With vivid detail and powerful prose, she sweeps readers into opulent worlds where extravagance reigns. A page-turner from start to finish, this book is as irresistible as it is unforgettable.
March 29, 2026
I’m always amazed at how Marlene Wagman-Geller weaves together these engaging, fascinating, and enlightening biographies. I couldn’t put down The World’s Wealthiest Women. I got the insider’s view into these women’s lives. It’s not what the insiders would want someone to see, but it’s what reminds me that the grass isn’t always greener. I’m once again left wanting more. I may just have to re-read one of her older books to hold me over until her next masterpiece.
March 20, 2026
Highly recommended for anyone curious about whether money truly buys fulfillment—or just more complicated problems.
June 22, 2026
4⭐️ no notes, sometimes you just wanna read about rich people
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews