Silver Swan

by Sallie Bingham

"Men who inherit great wealth are respected, but women who do the same are ridiculed. In The Silver Swan , Sallie Bingham rescues Doris Duke from this gendered prison and shows us just how brave, rebellious, and creative this unique woman really was, and how her generosity benefits us to this day.” ―Gloria Steinem

A bold portrait of Doris Duke, the defiant and notorious tobacco heiress who was perhaps the greatest modern woman philanthropist

In The Silver Swan , Sallie Bingham chronicles one of the great underexplored lives of the twentieth century and the very archetype of the modern woman. “Don’t touch that girl, she’ll burn your fingers,” FBI director J. Edgar Hoover once said about Doris Duke, the inheritor of James Buchanan Duke’s billion-dollar tobacco fortune. During her lifetime, she would be blamed for scorching many, including her mother and various ex-lovers. She established her first foundation when she was twenty-one; cultivated friendships with the likes of Jackie Kennedy, Imelda Marcos, and Michael Jackson; flaunted interracial relationships; and adopted a thirty-two year-old woman she believed to be the reincarnation of her deceased daughter. This is also the story of the great houses she inhabited, including the classically proportioned limestone mansion on Fifth Avenue, the sprawling Duke Farms in New Jersey, the Gilded Age mansion Rough Point in Newport, Shangri La in Honolulu, and Falcon’s Lair overlooking Beverly Hills.

Even though Duke was the subject of constant scrutiny, little beyond the tabloid accounts of her behavior has been publicly known. In 2012, when eight hundred linear feet of her personal papers were made available, Sallie Bingham set out to probe her identity. She found an alluring woman whose life was forged in the Jazz Age, who was not only an early war correspondent but also an environmentalist, a surfer, a collector of Islamic art, a savvy businesswoman who tripled her father’s fortune, and a major philanthropist with wide-ranging passions from dance to historic preservation to human rights.

In The Silver Swan , Bingham is especially interested in dissecting the stereotypes that have defined Duke’s story while also confronting the disturbing questions that cleave to her legacy.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2020

About the author

Sarah Montague "Sallie" Bingham was an American author, playwright, poet, teacher, feminist activist, and philanthropist. She was the eldest daughter of Barry Bingham, Sr., patriarch of the Bingham family of Louisville, Kentucky.

Reviews

[Valerity (Val) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a mysterious person, this Doris Duke. It’s almost like she didn’t want anything much of herself left behind for posterity, as she was going to live as she pleased. And she certainly had the money and will to do so. The author was granted free rein to go through Duke’s papers for this book, but she just didn’t write letters much, and shunned publicity, as she was hyper-private. Doris was a very tall, athletic woman, at least six foot in her prime, and she enjoyed physical activities like swimming in the ocean and tennis. I’ve read a previous book about her years ago, but I don’t recall much from it. Much seems to be made of her being expunged from the Social Register, but it seems to have meant nothing to Doris herself, who probably made light of the fact.

I enjoyed reading about her life, her marriages, her parents and brother, along with the power company and university and offshoots that the family left as their legacy. I’ve always enjoyed reading about philanthropists and imagined being able to do that and how it must feel so wonderful to help others and leave behind something that will live on and do good things for people long after you are gone. It’s just too bad Doris Duke didn’t leave more of herself behind for us to get to know her better. It doesn’t really feel like there’s much of her in the book, despite all of the paperwork that was used to research her, she still seems quite ephemeral and out of reach.  Advanced electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author Sallie Bingham, and the publisher. 3.5 of 5 Stars.

[Liz Pardey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a litle crazy. The more I try to make sense of it the weirder it seems. I must admit though that I enjoyed the first quarter more than the rest of the book.
This is a biography of Doris Duke, only child of ‘Buck’ Duke. She was born in 1912 into wealth, Her father through smooth business moves turned his family tobacco farm into a conglomerate. When her father died she was 12 and inherited basically everything, doled out when she was 21, 25 and 30.
So we first meet Doris during WW2, determined to help defeat the Nazis as a spy perhaps. She served in army canteens and after the war became a foreign correspondent although whether she got this job through her abilities or through her wealth is debatable.. She married a social climber, Jimmy Cromwell and although they remained married for 8 years, it was actually over much sooner. She followed this with a briefer marriage to the renowned playboy Portofino Rubirosa
After this first section of the book the author goes into pretty much straight biography and gets, frankly, dull, dull dull. Certainly there are a lot of intriguing factoids about Doris. She was strongly averse to writing letters to her friends and business associates, fearing no doubt that they would be exploited because of her great wealth and reputation.
She had two camels she took with her from house to house in a specially outfitted airplane. She had several homes, a penthouse suite in New York, Rough Point at Newport,, Duke Farms in New Jersey. She built Shangri-la in Hawaii,, travelling frequently to Lebanon for Moorish furnishing for the home that has become a museum of Islamic art in Hawaii.
A sportswoman, she swam daily, surfed, sailed.
She seems to have had numerous lovers.
Philanthropy was a big part of her life -- animal protection, historic restoration in Newport, children’s health, the arts as well as a few mistakes such as adopting Chandi Heffner and then going to great lengths to be sure she would have no claim on the estate
Chapters seem to alternate between her life, lovers, homes and financial matters. She took perhaps $100 million she was left and by her death her wealth was something like $1.2 billion.
What I found annoying is Ms Bingham’s repeated criticism of the tobacco industry; I think it’s unfair to expect Duke, in the 20th century, to close down the tobacco part of her father’s legacy.
Doris Duke seems to have hidden the most intimate parts of her life. Unfortunately Sallie Bingham has done very little to scratch below the carefully crafted surface to find new information about a most rare and fascinating subject.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sallie Bingham begins her book with examples of how Doris Duke has been neglected. Duke University, to which she has contributed, bears the names, photos and sculptures of only the male benefactors of the Duke family. Bingham states her goal, which she meets, which is to bring the story of Doris Duke to life – free of sexism and tabloid hype.

Duke led a big life, and with only 280 pages we get glimpses of the size and scale of it and her legacies in education, the arts, the environment and respect for and help with the issues particular to the lives of Blacks, women and Native Americans.

About 1/3 of the book describes the world from which Duke emerged. Bingham shows her gilded age mother to be an apex social climber. She raised Doris (who lived to use a Mac computer) for a stuffy entitled life like her own. Relief came through a father who began life as a tobacco farmer and rose to become a major financial success. He not only loved Doris, he made time for her in his business life, hereby exposing her to the people and issues of running a large business. He died when she was 13 and left the bulk of his fortune to her (with restrictions on its principal). While not totally free of her mother's attempt to make her 6 foot 1" daughter into a society wife (until her first inheritance pay out at age 21) she enjoyed the sports that were open to girls of the time such as horseback riding at the Duke Farms in NJ and swimming and tennis with the daughters of other tycoons in Newport RI. Education was not important, formal school ended at grade 10.

Bingham does not analyze, but merely presents her first marriage as a product of the times. Jimmy Cromwell had the social standing and resume to lift this parvenu, and knew how to hide his own family’s financial failures. Was he the first US male to receive alimony? Similarly, Bingham does not discuss the impetus for the second marriage, was it a flight of rebellion?

Going back and forth in time, Bingham shows the changing cast of characters: staff, significant others, sports and music fellows, designers and others and her accumulation of real estate.

Bingham describes the circumstances (for a socialite heiresses) for her ahead of her times donations such as those supporting birth control and African American culture. There is description of the her role in building institutions such as the Newport Restoration (not the mansions) Foundation, The Museum of Islamic Art and Culture and Design and many initiatives in agriculture, the arts and education.

For all her fame and intrigue, the Doris Duke story has not attracted a credible full scale biography. Stephanie Mansfield, in 1993 (Duke died in 1992), produced the most biographical work I know of. She did not dig deep which is a special loss since significant interviews were available at that time. Of the three other books (known to me) one was written by a disinherited nephew and the others by disaffected staffers. Aside from a few unflattering TV/film renditions of parts of her life, Duke’s unusual and eventful story is now characterized by neglect.

While this book is a chronological challenge its hodge podge may be in and of itself a statement on a life that includes friendships with people from indigent jazz musicians to General Patton, to Jackie Kennedy to Imelda Marcos. The book is successful it its purpose. Bingham brings the life of Doris Duke out of the shadows and credits her achievements.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story of a mysterious woman.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doris Duke was a remarkable woman – and remarkably rich. A tobacco heiress, she had more money than she knew what to do with. And if ever the adage “money can’t buy happiness” is relevant, then it fits the bill here. She was also a woman of many talents, lived a full and varied life, was a great philanthropist, unconventional and not particularly likeable. She was also a very private person, kept no journals, left almost no letters and gave no interviews. Author Sallie Bingham has done a great job in documenting the life and her research has been thorough and meticulous. I very much enjoyed finding out about Doris Duke, but ultimately I found the biography unsatisfying as I got no sense of who exactly Doris Duke was, no sense of her inner world. This isn’t perhaps the author’s fault as she had so little to go on. But too often she allowed herself to speculate and make assumptions, using “perhaps” and “probably” too often and using “she must have” and “she may have” when it is impossible to know. Occasional cod psychology, although no doubt tempting, can’t be verified. I also found that the book rambled somewhat and was unfocused at times. Nevertheless, although Duke remained an enigma for me overall this is a worthwhile and interesting account of Doris Duke’s life.

[Mam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished the book, but didn't care if I did. That pretty well sums up my opinion. Doris Duke was not a sympathetic character; although I appreciated her generosity to causes important to me, I didn't derive any real understanding of who she was beyond the speculation in this book.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

She had an interesting life but this book jumps around and is hard to follow along

[Sarah Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

She was six feet two inches tall, attracted to both men and women, and wildly travelled. Arguably the most well known in her famous family, she's virtually vanished from the record today. She was heiress to a vast fortune and one of the great modern female philanthropists. She spent much of her formative years in one of the mansions coyly referred to as a "cottage" in Newport originally built by Vanderbilt. She could count numerous well-known people as her friends including Prince Aly Khan, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Jackie Kennedy. She was obsessed with animals, always had a trail of dogs behind her, and a veritable zoo of pets including camels that she traveled with "in a cargo plane outfitted with protective wrestling mats" (180). This is the story of Doris Duke, heir to the great Duke tobacco fortune.

Doris did live exceedingly lavishly with multiple homes and travels all over the globe. However, she was incredibly generous with her inherited wealth, giving to numerous organizations during her lifetime and in her will. While the bulk of her wealth (valued at $1.2 billion) was left to the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, she also contributed to the Olympic Committee to improve American women swimmers, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Duke University, Duke Medical Center for AIDS research, the New York Zoological Society. On a personal note, I loved hearing about the Duke family's contributions to my own alma mater, Davidson College, referenced. She also left her home Shangri La to be turned into what is now the Shangri La Center for Islamic Arts and Cultures, a "showcase of the fine specimens of tiles, woodwork, and ceramics that Doris collected during her lifetime" (170).

This book was not organized particularly well. It jumps around in time. Not until a good third of the way through the book does the author decide to go back and detail how the Duke family accumulated their wealth and explain Doris's background. Doris had several marriages and multiple relationships. These are not described in a clear order, and I was left confused about the precise series of events. In fact, one of the first aspects of Doris's life the author decides to tackle was her work as a journalist during World War II. The presentation felt chaotic. This was an absolutely fascinating story, and the author has put a lot of detail and work into it, but I do wish it had been edited into a more clear and linear order, so it was easier to follow.

Doris left no journals or memoir and virtually no letters to give a better insight into her interior life so much is unknown about what she thought or her motives for various decisions. She left behind no children who could help tell her story. In her later years, she grew increasingly distant and hard to reach. She legally adopted a grown woman but later rejected her from her life. Her end is obscured by her privacy and the scattering of her servants after her death. However, despite the gaps in knowledge, author Sallie Bingham has given an absolutely fascinating accounts of the details of Doris's life.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doris Duke is certainly an iconic figure. Since my visit to her Newport home, ROUGH POINT, I’ve been extremely interested in her life.

Bingham has included both public and private life in this well written memoir. I can’t wait to visit her other residences.

Very interesting social history embedded in this well researched biography.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

Extremely boring, poorly written, full of dates, titles and way too many people. I was hoping to read her life story from childhood through her adult life, this was not that!

[Kivanc Ezer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am fortunate to be equipped with two features which enriched my reading experience of this wonderful biography and helped me to step beyond its content matter: 1. Familiarity with Bingham’s other non-fiction (the Blue Box and Passion and Prejudice), 2. Sound background knowledge on feminist auto/biographies or “life writing” genres. Otherwise, misleading conclusions that Silver Swan’s story lacks a chronological order or “the book jumps back and forth in time so often that there's no coherent narrative” can be drawn. I also noticed people's commenting here on goodreads about too much details or 'overdone', which doesn't apply to me as a former academic. We love and value details.

Feminist life writing genres differ from the conventional, mainstream auto/biographical narratives where a distinctive 'I' separates itself from others. Most women’s narratives rely on a relational model of selfhood where 'I' is engaged and is located within a network of 'we'. I argue that Doris Duke is constructed within this relational model of selfhood (Jelinek 1986, xiii). Bingham attends to this reconstruction by providing historical and geographical contexts, and by connecting Doris’ story and actions not only to the people around her or her family but also to other historical figures or resources which might have influenced her, including for instance, the popular books on child raising. Bingham proves to be a detail-oriented researcher and observant author who approaches biography with a holistic insight.

I will conclude with the fairy-tale-like opening scene that I found extremely captivating: Who was this b/old woman plunging into the ocean from a steep bluff near her mansion by the coast at Newport? What kind of a person keeps two camels flown from New York State with pink harnesses brought from Paris? The opening scene raised my expectations high and quick. It is set up at Duke’s Rough Point House in Newport (RI). Bingham contends that Duke made a statement through the sites she chose for her homes whether on the Atlantic or the Pacific Coast with their crushing waves. In Bingham’s words: “Even a woman insulated by money is not exempt from its [life’s] perils” and Duke chose to expose herself to them. Along with this exposure, her love of beauty and eccentricity shines at this opening scene, continues throughout, and still resonates in me several days after I finished Silver Swan.

[Reggie Morrisey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Back in the pre-pandemic days when ladies lunched, I could imagine eavesdropping on the conversation at a table where Sallie Bingham dazzled friends with an airy preview of her sympathetic book, THE SILVER SWAN: In Search of Doris Duke.
Long before the lunch, I could picture Ms. Bingham toiling in the previously off-limits archive of Doris Duke papers at Duke University, I see her piling up stacks of index cards with facts she assembled. But, then I pictured her knocking the stacks on the floor and sweeping them into a pile. The organization of the book is that pile.
Too often in listening to the audio book, I found myself mystified by chapters zigging back and forth through an obviously fascinating life. Lots to relay here. I kept track to the end but felt like a tea totaler trying to follow the logic of a woman on her third martini.
Most telling, the author did not dig into the material presented by a writer in the July 2020 Vanity Fair. Peter Lance unearthed quite the load of clues suggesting Doris Duke lied about her actions leading to the death of her designer/curator. I wouldn't be surprised if the mans family pushed to re-open the case. The magazine's revelations made this book ring hollow.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I realize I am not the right audience for this, I read eagerly the first few chapters but became slower and slower as the book went on. A friend of mine visited Doris' home in Hawaii and was absolutely astounded at the architecture and the story, so I've recommended she read this book.

A bit of a poor little rich girl, Doris was a product of her time, a bit, she was raised with strict rules and morals yet her wealth allowed for so much more. But what came out of the book was a lonely woman, rich in so many things.

[Lydia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Exceedingly poorly written. I didn't know who Doris Duke was before reading, and I still don't now. Full of what seems like gossip, irrelevant asides, and rampant speculation. I understand that Duke did not leave much personal writing behind, but the sources for this book all appear to be the letters of other people (as my own irrelevant aside, what the FUCK is with everyone's "dark" handwriting/script/lettering. It is a moron, nothing descriptor). I'm not sure the value of this at all.

[Joe Bellew · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fairly boring story badly told. Why do some authors insist on messing with chronology? Poorly written and loaded with innuendo and speculation. Not even the few paragraphs which described PeeWee Herman’s mock wedding witnessed by Doris Duke and Imelda Marcos could save this train wreck. Basically, the result is a giant “who cares?”

[Jo Bujarski · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too many assumptions-she would have thought, she probably believed....

Hard to follow, starts in the middle and goes back and forth from there.

[Sandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of Doris Duke the story of a heiress and her life and marriage

[Celia Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read The Silver Swan recently, and couldn't put it down. There is intimacy and empathy with Doris Duke, beginning before her birth and extending to her death, as well as a frank appreciation for her values, her imagination, her methods, her accomplishments, and her weaknesses, in the context of a man's world. The book pays attention to very personal issues and motivations, without being gossipy. It is an important book, that I believe will pick up readers for a long time to come. The questions it brings up about gender and money in our culture are not going away. Where there was a Doris Duke shaped void in my mind, there is now a complex human being, placed in an unusual life predicament, and who took initiatives to navigate a private personal life along with a productive philanthropic life, in the public eye without really being seen. In this book she is seen as plainly as the artifacts and archives she left can reveal.

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started reading this book in an effort to explore the strength of wealthy heiress Doris Duke, but ended up abandoning its disjointed and confusing style. The story jumps right into her unique lifestyle and multiple houses, and ends up with a chapter describing her hosting disgraced actor Paul Reubens and his marriage to Duke's so-called adopted daughter, while the couple had Imelda Marcos as their flower girl. Since Doris Duke wrote few letters and didn't keep a journal, this book lacks the depth and interest level of a traditional biography.

[Lori Bayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the frustratingly choppiness of the writing of this book, the messages are strong. Perhaps the author could have themed chapters and organized it by periods of Doris' life instead of the back and forth that was so hard to keep track of. The power in this book is: to reflect on our cynicism and perceptions of inherited wealth and its value, the documenting of our own lives on paper, women deserve to be remembered for their contributions in society, and our innate power that can sometimes scare the crap out of us.

[Yvonne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was definitely informative. Duke definitely comes across as a spoiled, protected rich heiress. I am somewhat surprised at the numerous men who were able to manipulate her when she had the real power. I guess she was just human, most of the time. I did enjoy the pictures provided in the physical book. It seems that wealth breeds eccentricity. I did get through majority of this book which is pretty rare for me and a non-fiction title.

[Elizabeth Garberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to give this four stars. The history is so interesting spanning over a century, the woman a mystery. A great number of stories of people on all levels. I truly wish it was threaded together better would make a great mini series. This woman was ahead of her times, yet I believe taken advantage of often. "Poor little rich girl "!

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a mess. It starts in the middle of her life, not giving any of the early history that gives weight and better understanding of peoples lives. It takes a fascinating woman and makes her life dry and boring. And it’s needlessly confusing. I couldn’t even finish it. I’d be tempted to give it 0 stars if that was an option.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

(audio) If you like a militant feminist making up stories, then you might like this book.
Book is disjointed and full of conjecture...because author doesn't really know.
Duke's life is fascinating tho, so I finished the book.
I'd recommend you save your time and read something else or just wikipedia.

[Aoife Rouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a history major studying in Newport, I applaud Sallie Bingham for her use of Doris’s correspondence, letters, and other documents to craft an honest narrative of a woman who left behind very little in her own voice. Duke’s family, travels, giving, and the connections she made through her many chapters truly leaves an impact of how one woman experience of life connects to others. Great read!

[Sydney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in preparation for my visit to Shangri La…I learned a lot about Doris Duke, but the book was hard to follow. We jumped around in the timeline and so many side “characters” were explained in such detail that it was hard to follow. So, beneficial reading before visiting Shangri La, but rather a slog to get through.

[don · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting

Quite informative but filled with too much fluff.
Indeed a very interesting personality but perhaps a bit too overdone as always happens with too much money and not enough depth. Personality problems all over the book.
Perhaps much better as a two park Netflix program

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched but oddly impersonal. As tho the writer wanted to show just how elusive DD was. It felt as though it was strictly researched thru archival sources and no personal interviews with people that knew her.

[Lisa Mcbroom · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a young bride in Paris, Sallie Bingham attended a party in which Doris Duke hosted. Fascinated by Duke's mystery, Bingham was granted access to her papers in NYC to understand this mysterious person.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Organization was a problem in this book.....where was the editor? I still find Doris Duke fascinating. It had lots of good tidbits about her life and the characters in it, but overall the book was disappointing as a biography.