The Sphinx: The Life of Gladys Deacon – Duchess of Marlborough

by Hugo Vickers

**The Times and Sunday Times Books of the Year 2020****The Times Best Biography Audiobook of the Year 2021**'Vickers gives breathing, alarming life to a woman who puzzled and thrilled her contemporaries'SUNDAY TIMES 'Best Paperbacks of 2021''A continuously astonishing and ultimately moving account of a unique figure, the stuff of great literature' Simon Callow, SUNDAY TIMES'Gripping . . . jaw-dropping story, brilliantly told' Ysenda Maxtone Graham, THE TIMES'Mr. Vickers, with his sharp eye for detail, splendidly captures the drama of Gladys's life and the amazing cast of characters she encountered' WALL STREET JOURNAL 'This biography is truly wonderful - a masterclass in storytelling'SUNDAY TIMES'The most extraordinary, rackety life' William Boyd, DAILY TELEGRAPH'Richly anecdotal and oddly captivating' Miranda Seymour, FINANCIAL TIMES'At the end of the book the reader can only say, "Whew! What a story!"' Anne de Courcy, SPECTATOR'Hugo Vickers's life of Gladys Marlborough is an extraordinary and tragic story, with special resonance today' EVENING STANDARD*******************One of the most beautiful and brilliant women of her time, Gladys Deacon dazzled and puzzled the glittering social circles in which she moved.Born in Paris to American parents in 1881, Gladys emerged from a traumatic childhood - her father having shot her mother's lover dead when Gladys was only eleven - to captivate and inspire some of the greatest literary and artistic names of the Belle Epoque. Marcel Proust wrote of her, 'I never saw a girl with such beauty, such magnificent intelligence, such goodness and charm.' Berenson considered marrying her, Rodin and Monet befriended her, Boldini painted her and Epstein sculpted her. She inspired love from diverse Dukes and Princes, and the interest of women such as the Comtesse Greffulhe and Gertrude Stein.In 1921, when Gladys was forty, she achieved the wish she had held since the age of fourteen to marry the 9th Duke of Marlborough, then freshly divorced from fellow American Consuelo Vanderbilt. Gladys's circle now included Lady Ottoline Morrell, Lytton Strachey and Winston Churchill, who described her as 'a strange, glittering being'. But life at Blenheim was not a when the Duke evicted her in 1933, the only remaining signs of Gladys were two sphinxes bearing her features on the west terraces and mysterious blue eyes in the grand portico. She became a recluse, and the wax injections she'd had to straighten her nose when she was 22 had by now ravaged her beauty. Gladys was to spend her last years in the psycho-geriatric ward of a mental hospital, where she was discovered by a young Hugo Vickers.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Womens, Historical, Ebooks, British Literature

466 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Hugo Vickers is a writer and broadcaster, who has written biographies of many twentieth century figures, including the Queen Mother, Gladys, Duchess of Marlborough, Cecil Beaton, Vivien Leigh, a study of Greta Garbo, Alice, Princess Andrew of Greece, and his book, The Private World of The Duke and Duchess of Windsor was illustrated with pictures from their own collection. Mr Vickers’s book, The Kiss: The Story of an Obsession won the 1996 Stern Silver Pen Award for Non-Fiction.

Reviews

[Helen Carolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit disappointed with this one. I expected more from Mr Vickers than the gossipy magazine style read that I got. While he mentions everything in Gladys's life that's all it is, a mention. Her whole life is skimmed over and nothing is dealt with in any great detail. Disappointed.

[Katedurie50 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gladys had a life, half fairytale, half Greek tragedy. She began with almost every advantage of position and privilege, but was still a child when her father shot her mother's lover dead (fortunately in Paris which took a relatively relaxed view of such things). As Gladys began to grow into what was held to be remarkable beauty, she was dragged round Europe in the expectation of a glamorous marriage. But her beauty was not perfect enough for her and - an early warning against cosmetic surgery - she sought paraffin wax injections to give her the perfect Grecian profile. These hardened, destroyed her complexion, sank to give her a heavy jawline. Even her famous 'turquoise' eyes looked too bright against skin too pink and hair dyed too yellow. As for marriage, she held out until she was forty to achieve her ambition of marrying the Duke of Marlborough, who inconsiderately had an estranged wife already. When Gladys became duchess (and mistress of Blenheim, the second largest house in Britain and in the 1930s having only one bathroom) she filled her life and its grandeur with dogs, breeding them and letting them run everywhere. The marriage quickly and acrimoniously failed. Although she had known almost everyone worth knowing in the elite, friendships failed also; she lived in increasingly eccentric squalor and ended her life, in her nineties, in an asylum. It's enough to make you grateful for lacking in beauty, class and wealth.

[Marguerite Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gladys Deacon's first step onto the world stage came when her American father murdered her mother's French lover in a hotel room. Gladys and her sisters were still young, but the consequences were lifelong. She inherited her mother's beauty and selfishness, her father's mental health issues, and his money. At the age of 40 she fulfilled a lifelong ambition and married the Duke of Marlborough, who came from a long line of men with their own mental health issues, a marriage that didn't last long. After that, Gladys retired into the country, then was forced to live out the rest of her days in an asylum.

Whew! This is the first book by Hugo Vickers I have read. He seems to have gained a lot of trust, access to a lot of papers and diaries and confessions but the result, I'm afraid to say, was tepid. He knew Gladys in her final years when she lived in an institution (much against her will), with her face ruined by surgery, and the vicious turn of her mind given a fuller rein than in her earlier years. He is an affectionate biographer, he's not critical and he keeps a lot back - and sadly, that was why I felt the result was tepid. I like judgement and comment in my biographies, I like speculation (not the wild kind but the measured kind). Gladys lived by her face and figure, she was a vain woman, but she was an incredibly clever woman. She's a woman that deserves to be reviewed and revised in the light of the society and mores she lived by and in, but Hugo Vickers doesn't do that. What we end up with was a petulant, spoilt woman who wasted her chances - or so it seemed to me. I wouldn't have liked to have met her.

The one thing we did have in common though, was a massive dislike of Winston Churchill. Oh, how I would have loved more insights on that one. But there were many, many women in this book, more importantly, I'd have loved to have know more about. Her relationship with her mother and her sisters (or rather lack of) wasn't explored. Her true feelings were taken as she explained them and not questioned. Alas, Gladys, I ended up having had more than enough of you.

[Candida · Rating 3 out of 5]

Duchess of Marlborough

"Be careful what you wish for" comes to mind as I read this account of a woman who was so single minded in her pursuit for her future. It is another sad tale all the way through the scandals that plagued her. She didn't have much for role models but she tried to do well in life.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think from the Afterword that this book is a republication of a much earlier work, rather than new material. But that doesn't detract from my experience. It was a pretty compelling story, although a bit long-winded at times, of an American heiress who climbed to almost the very pinnacle of British society and then turned her back on the whole scene, who led a fascinating intellectual life, and who knew just about everyone interesting in early 20th century Europe. Who messed up a near-perfect face by having a bit of early cosmetic enhancement done (what would her life have been like if she had been less vain, I wonder?)

Some reviewers of the audiobook have expressed dislike of the author's voice (he reads it himself). I'll admit that his performance was not that of the trained narrator—in particular he had a way of smacking his lips between bursts of speech that somewhat annoyed me in the early chapters. But I got used to him by around the halfway mark, and stopped noticing his tics. Given that we were learning about that very upper slice of life, it was fitting to have the story performed in an appropriately aristocratic bray.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gladys (pronounced Glade-dis) is one of the more interesting people of her time. I would describe her similarly to Kanye West. People often described her as genius (perceived) but deep down she needed help. Most importantly with her mental health.

Born in Paris to Americans. Her father was imprisoned at a young age for killing his wife’s lover. After his release he gains custody of two of his children, including Gladys. She lived in America for three years. She attended school in Europe where her mom kidnapped her. This is all real. Her father shortly after died in a mental hospital. All while this happening Gladys makes it her life mission to marry the Duke of Marlborough, despite having just married Consuelo Vanderbilt in the society wedding of the year. Years ensue of living all over Europe. Botched plastic surgery that involves wax disfiguring her face and convincing princes to paupers to fall in love with her.

Ultimately (spoiler alert), after over a decade of being his mistress, they marry. It was not happily ever after. How her life unravels is sad and depressing. She is memorialised at Blenheim, home of the Duke of Marlborough, with eyes painted over the portico and the two sphinxes in the Italian water garden, which happens to be the place I bought this book. Signed by the author to boot.

Hugo Vickers became friends with Gladys in the last few years of her life and wanted to tell her story. He makes it hard to follow. Footnotes are often tangents, but can be more interesting then the writing itself. Sometimes it’s just too much to keep track of.

In the end, I love Andrei the most. A Polish refugee who was told by Gladys that he would work for her—he was riding his bike, not looking for a job—and he did. He respected her eccentric life and boundaries and was loyal to the end.

[Richard Hakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went to Blenheim as I knew about it. I found the eyes, I found the book, I found the sphinxes in the garden. I read the book to find out more.

I would not have liked her and I am quite sure she would think the same of me. She was a snob, the only people who she had any time for were either very rich, very titled or famous artists. The worse thing is these people associated with her because of what she was and not who she was which really makes them worse than she. Only in later life did she have any time for the little people and only then because she was shuned and exploted by her own family.

Her vanity

'But Gladys marked her years at Blenheim in two further ways. In August 1928 she invited the decorative and portrait painter Colin Gill to paint her eyes on the ceiling of the portico, having first seen his work in a mural in St Stephen’s Hall, Westminster. The eyes are depicted in six panels, three blue and three brown. Gladys mounted the scaffold and gave the painter a blue scarf the same colour as her eyes for him to work from. Those eyes still gaze down on whosoever enters the palace. When the Water Terraces were completed in 1930, two lead sphinxes were placed opposite each other on the first terrace. These are the work of W. Ward Willis and bear Gladys’s features.'

While obviously a capable, cleaver person and yet another woman who played well the good hand that life dealt her. She never actually created much herself. Her story is one of cream teas (and more when she was younger) in expensive places while wearing expensive dresses all payed for with other people's money.

[Linda Edmonds Cerullo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written biography of Gladys Deacon, born in France to American parents and who, at the age of 40, married the Duke of Marlborough, ex husband of Consuelo Vanderbilt. Gladys was an enigma — eccentric and difficult, but very intelligent and hobnobbed with artists (Rodin and Monet among others) and writers (including Marcel Proust). It seems clear her somewhat troubled upbringing (her father killed her mother’s lover) had an unhealthy influence on her and caused some mental issues and ultimately she ended her life in a mental institution. Despite her advantages and the wealth she was fortunate to have she seemed deeply dissatisfied with her life, always looking for happiness but never quite achieving it. There was a tremendous amount of information in this book with extensive notes and it tended to become overwhelming at times. Took me longer to read than most books but it was an interesting insight into a little known historical figure.

[Virginia Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

English biographies seem to be filled with peerage information that honestly doesn't interest me. And copious footnotes. It took me awhile to get into this book but I stayed with it, and ultimately enjoyed it. The author had an intimate relationship with the Duchess in her late years. And his intellectual infatuation with her led to her continuing to research her as part of his life's work. The life Gladys lived was filled with more famous people than I could absorb. Born to American Boston Brahmin parents, Gladys came to feel far more at home in Europe after her parents marriage came to a tragic end. Gladys' circle was filled with European royalty, the Bloomsbury group and many other artists and writers who's work shaped the early 20th century. Now, having read this biography, I think I need to read Proust.

[Celeste · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating book which provided a glimpse of a woman who lived outside the confines of society’s expectations. Gladys was an enigmatic and interesting figure who led an extraordinary but ultimately tragic life. A woman who was not appreciated, I feel, during her time. I was disappointed with this at times because I sometimes had to read pages twice just to understand which new characters were being introduced. While still a great read, I would recommend this if you had prior knowledge of the time period and the main players within the early 20th century, Belle Époque era (ie. Winston Churchill, Gertrude Stein etc.) or at least happy to look up various figures online. That being said, this was a great book with a huge amount of research being invested into it. I was left with the final thoughts that those who loved Gladys most in the end were inevitably not her family but rather friends and employers (mainly her loyal gardener and Hugo Vickers). Ultimately, Gladys’ was quite a skilful writer and it is lovely to see her musings finally get the publicity they deserve.

[Johannes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was always curious about her, and honestly whenever I found that this book not only existed, but that it was updated by its authour, I knew I must have it. That said, I don't share Vicker's fascination on her, Gladys was an interesting beautiful person but also a very troubled one, even if Vicker hints that, and does not disclose much of it, a lot of mental issues are discussed, and bipolar disorder is implied over and over again, hence her behaviour. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone unless, like me, you do love the period for honestly, apart from the eyes, and the sphynxs, she didn't have that much impact on Blenheim either as to recall her as an important duchess, Consuelo, sure to Glady's chagrin, had much more impact on the palace, and the estate, that she ever did.

[Skye Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I live near Blenheim and visit very very often, so reading this has been extremely interesting. I’ve even been reading the book in the grounds when its nice weather and it’s fascinating to be able to feel and see what she experienced when living there.

I will say its not a quick and easy read as there are lots of names, places and dates you have to remember and keep up with. But I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has visited Blenheim or has an interest in the high society lifestyle.

I would also recommend reading this book and then doing the upstairs and down stairs tour of the palace, as there are lots of things noted in the book that you get to see or hear about.

A very interesting book about a very interesting woman who lived a very unboring but tragic life.

[Lesley Truffle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gladys Deacon, the sphinx in Hugo Vickers biography, made the fatal mistake at the age of 14 of becoming obsessed with the quest of marrying the 9th Duke of Marlborough.

It didn’t bother her that the Duke had recently married American heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt. The Duke was busily spending Consuelo’s money feathering & renovating his nest, the spectacular historical Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire England.

So who was Gladys Deacon? And why were her stocks so high? What made her so damned desirable?

Proust adored Glenys and wrote, ‘I never saw a girl with such beauty, such magnificent intelligence, such goodness and charm.’

Things didn't work out as Gladys had envisioned - but I don't want to spoil the tale if you haven't read it.
I enjoyed this book immensely.

[Janie A. Hutchison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvelous

I had heard Gladys Deacon's name but truly did not realize what an impact she had on Sunny Marlborough and the Spencer-Churchills. A woman much too soon for her era, extremely intelligent but trapped in a stranglehold of the British aristocracy. Unable to flourish it is not surprising she chose solitude and anonymity after Marlborough. She was her own own best company. Hugo Vickers has done the literary world a great service. The story of Gladys Deacon may seem sad to the reader, however, she was true to her self to the end.

[DKM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this book in the gift shop at Blenheim Palace and decided to Kindle it. This is a well-researched biography, filled with interesting detail. While Vickers is clearly sympathetic toward Gladys, he does not shy away from presenting the unvarnished truth, unflattering though it may be at times. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Gladys and the history in which she is immersed. My only critique is the sometimes disjointed, non-sequitur hops between topics, often occurring mid-paragraph. Nevertheless, I highly recommend the biography.

[Ken Luehrsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Usually, biographies are written about people that have accomplished something in life, like a general winning a war or a scientist making a great discovery. Gladys Deacon had no accomplishments and for money, lived off the labor of others. Rather, she navigated life through her physical beauty, her considerable intelligence and a mercurial personality. I might not have liked Gladys, but I wish I had known her.

[Dawna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A ponderous walk through a life of excess

Once again, we learn of someone who had it all—intelligence, wealth, beauty and connections—only to fritter away these gifts while never achieving happiness. I can see why the aristocracy and super wealthy classes would be best served through dismantlement, their wealth distributed more equally for the greater good.

[Wendy DeWachter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another side of Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan Duchess of Marlboroughs story, and a lot more of the people of the era. I have read this book so many times I've stopped counting. Any lover of Victorian or Edwardian Gilded Age needs this book in their collection. I really cannot say more without spoiling it but this book has yet to ever disappoint me and I've given it a rare 5 stars

[Ms Inez G T Taylor · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was very disappointed with this book. Unnecessarily long winded with lots of name dropping not always needed. Utter rubbish and boring. A total wasted purchase.
Lady in Waiting was a much more interesting and enjoyable read. Congratulations to Lady Glenconner on sharing her experiences with us readers. I almost felt I was part of it.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had never heard of Gladys Deacon until I saw her name in another book I was reading. I got this official biography of her and it did not disappoint. She was very unique and cast a long shadow on many of her lovers and friends. Her marriage to the Duke of Marlborough was doomed from the start. The historian who wrote this dug very deep to bring her story to light. I enjoyed this book very much.

[Carissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gladys Deacon was the second wife of Winston Churchill's cousin "Sunny," Duke of Marlborough. An American who spent almost her entire life in Europe, she was a renowned beauty who met and mingled with the notables of her day. This book provides a fascinating glimpse of a vanished world, although I lost interest in and sympathy for the subject herself as the book progressed.

[Grace Hoffmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was almost more interesting to me that Hugo Vickers discovered that Gladys Deacon was still alive in a mental hospital in the 70s and that he befriended her which set him on a lifelong course of chronicling the aristocracy. Her actual life, beset by mental illness and lack of purpose seemed sad to me. Well written.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a character, and an amazing time. A whirlwind of European gossip/society flings and endeavors. A bit much, but second more intriguing. More photographs would have been worth thousands of words.

[Claudia Killian]

I loved this book. It gave me further insights into the time period and the families involved. What an interesting woman. It gave me compassion for women who choose to isolate themselves with their possessions. Life can be so hard and kindness goes such a long way.

[Nutthapol Limsombatanan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit tedious but an overall good read

The overall story is well told, but there are many points at which the author elaborates a bit too much. At times, the story of Gladys turns into the story of one of her lovers.

[Lcitera · Rating 2 out of 5]

A somewhat disappointing biography of the Duchess of Marlborough. A subject possibly as fascinating as Jennie Churchill is portrayed as a spoiled, sullen, selfish woman, told in boring detail. Spoiled, sullen, selfish all probable… but the droning style of the writing made for a dull read.

[Janice Moseley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating

What a marvelous life. Full of life, exasperating range of emotions, cold & hot in love & friendships. Living the way she wanted & raging against the wind. Fascinating.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such an unusual book. But as the main character was so extraordinary it would be hard to write a simple book. It was fascinating. I found it unwieldy at times though with so many names to connect. I love this period in history and felt sad for Gladys at her end.

[Champagnesnob · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoned - not holding my interest

[PJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gladys

I am happy to report that I enjoyed reading this book. I always enjoy biographical stories. What a an amazing woman