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If the Devil Had a Wife
Once upon a time. Happily ever after. Such are the classic promises of fairy tales. Yet in Texas we find a twist to the familiar storyline. In If the Devil Had a Wife, there is still the battle of Good vs. Evil, a beautiful maiden, a wealthy suitor, a kingdom of riches and the wicked witch, but any similarity with Cinderella and Snow White ends there. With the help of her life partner and an attorney (always necessary in these modern times), Nelda Stark executes a devious plan that elevates fraud and theft to a new high. A massive coverup reaches into the Texas Attorney General's Office, stealing from not only the Stark family, but the federal and state governments.
362 pages, Paperback
First published February 2, 2010
26 people are currently reading
393 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
March 8, 2011
A MUST READ! One of the best books I ever read and re-read! It should be listed as non-fiction. This book is well researched and would make a great movie! Written by the granddaughter of an Orange, Texas millionaire, it's the sad story of a wonderful family that was destroyed by a greedy lesbian. W H Stark married the love of his life, Nita Hill, after meeting her at The University of Texas. Adultery, lies, and obvious illegal activity paved the way for wife #3 to kill wives #1 and #2-- and #2 was her own sister! She probably killed Stark's grandmother, and eventually Stark himself. She put all the money in a foundation and left Stark's two sons with virtually nothing! AND GOT AWAY WITH IT! If you think this review spoiled the book, read it anyway. Banned by THE Foundation in the town it took place. Discussed in hushed tones there, it compels the local reader to choose sides--The Stark Foundation and it's holdings OR The Stark family. The author is the epitome of a true Southern lady, but she had the fortitude to tell the truth about what evil can do to the most perfect of families. Photos and info @ www.ifthedevilhadawife.com and on it's facebook page.
August 23, 2010
This story is absolutely fascinating, and in the hands of a more gifted writer, it could have been a fantastic book. However, the author is not a gifted writer - she's not a very good one, actually.
November 21, 2025
interesting story. not the best writing. but fun family book club.
October 9, 2013
This book is total and complete garbage. I was fortunate enough to know both Nelda Stark and Eunice Benkenstein and they were nothing like what this book of lies would have readers believe. Nelda was a very stern and serious woman but her generosity to her friends, social causes, the arts and her alma mater were of epic scale. She showed great kindness to those who were kind to her and not just after her money. She loved the arts, traveling, spending time with her friends and their families and was occasionally grumpy but more often a very gracious guest. Eunice Benkenstein, though a great friend of Nelda Stark for the majority of her adult life was never her lover, and was not a lesbian. She had a tragically brief marriage to a wonderful man named Charles and never had another serious romance after his untimely death from cancer. She was a brilliant business woman who had completed her bachelors degree in three years instead of four so she could begin making professional wages and help her younger siblings attend college, all of whom did and graduated as well. Later she also paid for the children of her siblings to attend college, and even the grandchildren of her siblings. Her kindness was contagious and her joy was boundless. She enjoyed life like few others are ever lucky enough to be able. She took care of her eldest and youngest sisters when they became ill. Even when it meant driving across the length of Texas and Oklahoma many many times to get them to and from doctors. They had promised each other that none would ever have to be in a nursing home and none ever were. She traveled the world, she loved her church, her family, and so many other parts of her life were a constant delight to her. Those that really knew these two woman are the luckier for it. The author of this trash is the victim of years of griping from her elder family members who after blowing their inheritance of several million dollars each spent the next few decades trying to sue Miss Nelda for more of the estate money. It was vicious and appalling. No one should be treated the way they treated her. Mrs. Benkenstein was included in the muck raking most likely because she was the executor of Mrs. Starks' estate. Money truly brings out the very worst in some.
June 11, 2010
Not a bad "Tale" though the writing is average at best. It does provide some interesting, though somewhat questionable, "facts". The truth of the whole matter most likely lies between what the author has to say and the rebuttal the Stark Foundation provides on their website (www.thestarktruth.org).
January 22, 2025
Very scandalous. As a SETX local, I loved reading the sceneries that we grew up with in a book.
September 23, 2025
Another one on the GOOD list for the year. And another one that's thanks to my daughter, Brooke Witte. This is a true story that took place in Deep East Texas. That's enough reason to recommend it. It's hard to believe one person could be capable of so much evil. People so desperately need Jesus.
February 22, 2021
Well, this takes place in Orange, Texas, just right next door to my hometown, and I never even heard about this or the history of the beautiful Shangri La there in Orange. That's about the only good thing Orange still has going for them.
First, the Lutcher, Stark, and Brown family connection: Henry Jacob Lutcher and Frances' oldest daughter, Miriam, married William Henry Stark, who would manage and take over Lutcher and Moore Lumber Company; and their youngest, Carrie Lutcher, would marry Edgar William Brown, MD, who would help oversee the company. W. H. Stark & Miriam had one girl and one boy, who we are interested in...Henry Jacob "Lutcher" Stark. He would "adopt" with his first wife, Nita: William "Bill" & Homer, twin boys. When Nita died suddenly, he married Ruby Childers. And when she died suddenly, he married Nelda Childers, Ruby's sister. And this was when the nightmare began for ol' Henry Jacob "Lutcher" Stark.
It was Homer Stark’s daughter, Rebecca Stark Nugent, portrayed as “Rachael” in the story, who was researching trying to find out more about her father's birth parents when the investigation led into her grandfather's (Lutcher Stark) death and uncovering many family secrets. She started researching within 5 months after Nelda's death. Little did she know she would be involved in this journey and open up pandora’s box for a draining, living hell for the next 10 years. She went through a storage unit filled from top to bottom full of the family's estate records dating back to early 1900s, spending endless hours scouring through the 400,000 papers and talking with people who were in the know…but afraid. This is her story, under the alias of Frank Mills. She can be followed on Facebook: If the Devil Had a Wife, and provides many old photos, stories and bits of history in and around Orange, Texas. At the end of the book, you’ll find photocopies of some important documents that backup the facts she presents in the book, and in the middle of the book some great photos of the Lutcher, Stark and Brown families.
Published in 2009, I’m not sure if it continues, but the Board Members of the Stark Foundation refused to allow any stores in Orange to sell this book due to its incriminating evidence, I’m sure, against the Stark Foundation and a few of the local people. And because of this book, volunteers at the local Shangri La, the Stark Museum of Art, and the Lutcher Theater, were told she was NOT allowed to enter the doors. Wow!!! Here it is 2019, I sure hope, by now, there’s a whole new honest-to-goodness group of Board Members running Orange.
You will be shocked, and saddened, at what she uncovers!
First, the Lutcher, Stark, and Brown family connection: Henry Jacob Lutcher and Frances' oldest daughter, Miriam, married William Henry Stark, who would manage and take over Lutcher and Moore Lumber Company; and their youngest, Carrie Lutcher, would marry Edgar William Brown, MD, who would help oversee the company. W. H. Stark & Miriam had one girl and one boy, who we are interested in...Henry Jacob "Lutcher" Stark. He would "adopt" with his first wife, Nita: William "Bill" & Homer, twin boys. When Nita died suddenly, he married Ruby Childers. And when she died suddenly, he married Nelda Childers, Ruby's sister. And this was when the nightmare began for ol' Henry Jacob "Lutcher" Stark.
It was Homer Stark’s daughter, Rebecca Stark Nugent, portrayed as “Rachael” in the story, who was researching trying to find out more about her father's birth parents when the investigation led into her grandfather's (Lutcher Stark) death and uncovering many family secrets. She started researching within 5 months after Nelda's death. Little did she know she would be involved in this journey and open up pandora’s box for a draining, living hell for the next 10 years. She went through a storage unit filled from top to bottom full of the family's estate records dating back to early 1900s, spending endless hours scouring through the 400,000 papers and talking with people who were in the know…but afraid. This is her story, under the alias of Frank Mills. She can be followed on Facebook: If the Devil Had a Wife, and provides many old photos, stories and bits of history in and around Orange, Texas. At the end of the book, you’ll find photocopies of some important documents that backup the facts she presents in the book, and in the middle of the book some great photos of the Lutcher, Stark and Brown families.
Published in 2009, I’m not sure if it continues, but the Board Members of the Stark Foundation refused to allow any stores in Orange to sell this book due to its incriminating evidence, I’m sure, against the Stark Foundation and a few of the local people. And because of this book, volunteers at the local Shangri La, the Stark Museum of Art, and the Lutcher Theater, were told she was NOT allowed to enter the doors. Wow!!! Here it is 2019, I sure hope, by now, there’s a whole new honest-to-goodness group of Board Members running Orange.
You will be shocked, and saddened, at what she uncovers!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 14, 2010
I read nearly all of this book. I never would have picked it up except that it's about the Stark family, timber barons who shaped the town of Orange, Texas, where my mother's family is from. If the authors are to be believed, one Nelda Stark, a third wife, killed four people, including her husband, by poisoning them. The authors suggest that vast amounts of money make it easy to get away with murder -- not exactly an earth-shaking contention, but always embarrassing for the officials who looked the other way.
The book is quirky in the extreme. Professional editing would have helped. Many times it launched into anecdotes and I had absolutely no idea when in time the particular episode was set. Some of the detail included just seems random, such as what the team of investigators ate and when they took breaks while going through boxes of evidence.
I'm unclear on who the author is. My mom explained that it's one of the sisters, but written under a coy pseudonym and as though it's the other sister. I mean -- whatEVer.
Having spent many happy summer vacations in Orange, Texas, I enjoyed the book as a trip down memory lane. And let it be known that the maligned Nelda Stark bought my grandparents a new car when my aunt had polio and was hospitalized in Houston.
Despite the whacky writing and Nelda's various charitable deeds -- I sort of got the impression she may really have done wrong. I think the foundation is preparing a rebuttal.
The book is quirky in the extreme. Professional editing would have helped. Many times it launched into anecdotes and I had absolutely no idea when in time the particular episode was set. Some of the detail included just seems random, such as what the team of investigators ate and when they took breaks while going through boxes of evidence.
I'm unclear on who the author is. My mom explained that it's one of the sisters, but written under a coy pseudonym and as though it's the other sister. I mean -- whatEVer.
Having spent many happy summer vacations in Orange, Texas, I enjoyed the book as a trip down memory lane. And let it be known that the maligned Nelda Stark bought my grandparents a new car when my aunt had polio and was hospitalized in Houston.
Despite the whacky writing and Nelda's various charitable deeds -- I sort of got the impression she may really have done wrong. I think the foundation is preparing a rebuttal.
March 25, 2010
If the Devil Had a Wife
is a book that has all the classic ingredients of a blockbuster mini-series, a Texas Monthly expose, a Quentin Tarrantino movie, and a soap opera all rolled into a very controversial book. The major difference is that this story is true; backed up by 140,000 pages of legal documents generated by a court case ten or so years ago. The subject is the H.J. Lutcher Stark family of Orange, Texas, and the Stark Foundation. From the Stark family wealth that was amassed over 80 years ago, to the untimely deaths, wonton greed,deadly poisons and skeletons in the closets this book will not only curl your hair it will add highlights the likes of which your own beautician will not believe.
If the Devil Had A Wife
Book Trailer
Read it! If you dare!
If the Devil Had A Wife
Book Trailer
Read it! If you dare!
December 27, 2010
Great local SE Texas story, clearly anchored to a very large extent on true events and real people; the power of an influential family in earlier days of
Orange, Texas!
All about $$$$$ and power, grabbing of assets and personalities involved in and/affected by that pursuit in various roles.
An enjoyable and worthy read - and it is based on Truth !
Orange, Texas!
All about $$$$$ and power, grabbing of assets and personalities involved in and/affected by that pursuit in various roles.
An enjoyable and worthy read - and it is based on Truth !
March 28, 2010
This book is fabulous. All documented information as to the H.J. Lutcher Stark history. The untimely deaths of women whose last visitor was Nelda. This will make a fantastic block buster movie.
October 10, 2010
Finally someone has told the truth about the trickery that goes on in Orange Tx. Like it was said in the book how can this town grown when it has a funeral director for a Mayor. The "good ole boy" politics still exsist here.
December 18, 2010
The flow was somewhat choppy, but the story is remarkable. I don't know that the devil was married to the wife. I'm thinking the devil took a husband...
September 11, 2023
where do I start. this saga has been going on for a century. the family has received their portion of their inheritance and continues to go after perceived injustices. old man stark and his wife nelda and his previous two wives for that matter were philanthropic in nature and in turn left about 90% of their wealth to the foundation for the betterment of the community and the organizations in which they were benefactors. if you read the intro this is their opinion of what happened. the author and I quote writes " documentation and narratives of true events and characters who may have been slightly modified in order to concisely tell the story." meaning most of this book is a form of fiction and not an accurate telling. being from orange tx where this story takes place you have team stark foundation vs team stark family. the foundation was never a billion dollar fortune millions yes. but billions never. Nelda stark made sure her will was iron clad and to the benefit of the people of the community of orange. Furthermore, there are several inconsistencies in the authors story. yes it's a story that should not be taken for fact.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2019
I had serious issues with this book as nonfiction.
This book tells the story of a family feud. One side contends that they were cheated out of their inheritance by fraud and murder. They believe that records and documents were destroyed and hidden. And of course if this is the case, how can they document what occurred?
Fine, I could understand that. However, they lost me with the "dream sequence" ending in chapter 20. That's called fiction, plain and simple.
What's really so sad is that it reads like a competent legal thriller. Perhaps for me, that just made it feel like more of a "story" and less of a real account of events. At any rate, I left feeling irritated.
This book tells the story of a family feud. One side contends that they were cheated out of their inheritance by fraud and murder. They believe that records and documents were destroyed and hidden. And of course if this is the case, how can they document what occurred?
Fine, I could understand that. However, they lost me with the "dream sequence" ending in chapter 20. That's called fiction, plain and simple.
What's really so sad is that it reads like a competent legal thriller. Perhaps for me, that just made it feel like more of a "story" and less of a real account of events. At any rate, I left feeling irritated.
August 31, 2019
This was great! I read this book because it has to deal with my parents home town. I knew of the Stark Foundation (only by name) and knew that many people I know aren’t the biggest fans of the Stark family but reading this was GREAT!
Good news - you don’t have to know much of anything about this town and the Starks to enjoy the book. Having some knowledge of what the author was talking about definitely helped me paint a picture. At only 100 pages into the book, my mom and I got on Google Maps so she could walk me down memory lane in Orange including a time that she saw Nelda Stark walking down the street when my mom was a little girl - now that was a sight I wish I could have seen.
Good news - you don’t have to know much of anything about this town and the Starks to enjoy the book. Having some knowledge of what the author was talking about definitely helped me paint a picture. At only 100 pages into the book, my mom and I got on Google Maps so she could walk me down memory lane in Orange including a time that she saw Nelda Stark walking down the street when my mom was a little girl - now that was a sight I wish I could have seen.
January 6, 2021
I really enjoyed this book. Some reviews say it wasn't written that well but I think the author did a good job of turning research into a story. I felt the author made good points and I do think family members were shafted out of what they deserved. The fact that Walter Riedel was able to retire from the Stark Foundation in 2017 and McKee (or whatever his name is) followed him as president proves that these people have used the Stark name to prosper their whole lives while not giving anything to the family - or very little to the family. I would love to tour the house that is part of the museum but that means the Stark foundation gets some of my money and I don't want to give them any. I found a response on the internet from the Stark Foundation regarding the book and I thought it was disrespectful and misleading. I think Nelda Stark and her friend Eunice are horrible people, same goes for Walter Riedel and the McKee guy. I am so glad I read this book. Thank you, Connie, for telling me about it.
December 30, 2024
A true story about an obsurdley wealthy family from Orange, Texas.
i picked up this book and read to learn more about the Stark family that i’ve seen snippets of when visiting Orange. While the story of the family is wild and there are some horrible people who did horrible things for the sake of power and money - this book was horribly written. I was disappointed in how hard it was to read this book and i don’t know why I made myself finish it, but I did.
Oh well, now I have some fun facts to share!
i picked up this book and read to learn more about the Stark family that i’ve seen snippets of when visiting Orange. While the story of the family is wild and there are some horrible people who did horrible things for the sake of power and money - this book was horribly written. I was disappointed in how hard it was to read this book and i don’t know why I made myself finish it, but I did.
Oh well, now I have some fun facts to share!
September 24, 2019
I’m not going to write a review, you can find most of the tale by Googling The Starks of Orange, Texas. This true story if well-written and with a good editor could be a fun read. But the writing is so poor with detailed descriptions that have no value to the story. The tale could have been condensed and would be a
good 125 page read.
good 125 page read.
November 2, 2024
A friend recommended this book, thinking I’d enjoy the significance in the story’s location. This was a quick read but unfortunately, I wasn’t a fan. Since it’s based on true events in a small Texas town, it felt like I was intruding on private family matters. It read more like gossip, leaving me unsure of what was real and what wasn’t. Not my cup of tea.
April 10, 2020
Juicy af but not very well written.
April 19, 2020
Something stinks in Orange,TX, and it ain’t the paper mill. 3.5 stars- rounding up for all the scandal.
June 28, 2020
Fact -really is- stranger than fiction. Wow.
April 20, 2021
I really liked this book, found it a real page turner in spite of chapter 20.
May 3, 2022
The most pointless book I've ever read. Rich people problems I guess 🤷♀️
October 12, 2016
Very poorly written. Boring. I did not finish.
July 14, 2011
When I picked up If the Devil Had a Wife, I thought, “Oh no, another book about how bad Texas people can be.” As I began reading, I soon found that I was right, but not in a negative way. The book is one of those real life, tell all books that will hold your interest from beginning to end.
The author, a descendant of H. J. Lutcher Stark, knows the subject through extensive research and interviews with family and friends. The chronology of the family events is persuasive and well presented.
The story of Lutcher Stark and his family contains romance, intrigue, drugs, greed and many other aspects of the life of the rich and famous.
Lutcher Stark married the love of his life, Nita Hill. When Nita could not have children they adopted twins. After Nita’s death, Lutcher married Ruby Childers who died about a year after their marriage. Then he married Nelda Childers, Ruby’s sister. What followed is the gist of this book and how those events affected future generations of the Stark family.
The details about the inner workings of the Stark Foundation provide revealing information about the educational and arts contributions the Foundation made to various institutions in southeast Texas and Louisiana.
You will enjoy this book. It’s a very good Stark family biography.
I am not sure that all the family secrets have been unearthed, even after all of the research done by Starks’ children and grandchildren. But I’ll bet some of the ancestors in the Stark family turned over in their graves when their descendants destroyed their good intentions.
The author writes under a pen name. She uses her father’s birth name, Frank Mills. When Frank was adopted by Nita and Lutcher Stark, he was renamed Homer Stark.
If the Devil Had a Wife is the winner of the 2011 NTBF Book Award in adult non-fiction.
The author, a descendant of H. J. Lutcher Stark, knows the subject through extensive research and interviews with family and friends. The chronology of the family events is persuasive and well presented.
The story of Lutcher Stark and his family contains romance, intrigue, drugs, greed and many other aspects of the life of the rich and famous.
Lutcher Stark married the love of his life, Nita Hill. When Nita could not have children they adopted twins. After Nita’s death, Lutcher married Ruby Childers who died about a year after their marriage. Then he married Nelda Childers, Ruby’s sister. What followed is the gist of this book and how those events affected future generations of the Stark family.
The details about the inner workings of the Stark Foundation provide revealing information about the educational and arts contributions the Foundation made to various institutions in southeast Texas and Louisiana.
You will enjoy this book. It’s a very good Stark family biography.
I am not sure that all the family secrets have been unearthed, even after all of the research done by Starks’ children and grandchildren. But I’ll bet some of the ancestors in the Stark family turned over in their graves when their descendants destroyed their good intentions.
The author writes under a pen name. She uses her father’s birth name, Frank Mills. When Frank was adopted by Nita and Lutcher Stark, he was renamed Homer Stark.
If the Devil Had a Wife is the winner of the 2011 NTBF Book Award in adult non-fiction.
March 1, 2014
Clearly the only people who enjoyed this rather poorly written book had ties to the small town when the family lived. It was highly repetitive and was like reading court documents.
There were actually interesting elements of the story but the book was authored by someone far too close to the situation & who's true calling was never to be a writer (anyone can recount a story but writers make you feel he story). The wanted to get the facts out (in other words prove they were in the right) but, without skill to make the writing interesting, the book falls flat.
The narrative was similar to what I would expect to hear if I asked a recently divorced man what he thought of his ex - she's bad, I'm good. It would have been more compelling and even believable by rounding out characters and not being so incredibly one side in descriptions of all sides. How many times did the story mention the father didn't care about the money, only what good it could do for others? Also perplexing - if his father (the grandfather) had been drugged for 20 years - that his son (the father) would not have noticed anything until the week of his death. That incongruity alone highlights need to be more truthful in portraying a person in a more rounded fashion. No one is all good, all of the time and by admitting some fault or showing some vulnerability, the audience would have more compassion for the hero.
In the end, I did feel sorry for the Stark family. It is likely they were screwed out of some money. But, I was more sorry because the family let that consume so much of their lives. Wrapped in bitterness and regret is no way to live.
There were actually interesting elements of the story but the book was authored by someone far too close to the situation & who's true calling was never to be a writer (anyone can recount a story but writers make you feel he story). The wanted to get the facts out (in other words prove they were in the right) but, without skill to make the writing interesting, the book falls flat.
The narrative was similar to what I would expect to hear if I asked a recently divorced man what he thought of his ex - she's bad, I'm good. It would have been more compelling and even believable by rounding out characters and not being so incredibly one side in descriptions of all sides. How many times did the story mention the father didn't care about the money, only what good it could do for others? Also perplexing - if his father (the grandfather) had been drugged for 20 years - that his son (the father) would not have noticed anything until the week of his death. That incongruity alone highlights need to be more truthful in portraying a person in a more rounded fashion. No one is all good, all of the time and by admitting some fault or showing some vulnerability, the audience would have more compassion for the hero.
In the end, I did feel sorry for the Stark family. It is likely they were screwed out of some money. But, I was more sorry because the family let that consume so much of their lives. Wrapped in bitterness and regret is no way to live.
November 4, 2014
As other reviewers have said, it had the makings of an interesting story and in the hands of a competent writer it could have been a pretty good book. However that didn't happen. Apparently it was written by a family member (using a pen name) not a professional writer - and it shows. The first three quarters of the book are filled with so much extraneous "fluff" - filler information that has nothing to do with the story that the important facts tend to get lost in the midst of it all. It seems like more information could have been given about the individuals involved, their background and so forth. It just seemed as though the emphasis was in the wrong place. So many people dying under mysterious circumstances and no one looking into it? Drugs and rat poison - it seemed that some of the victims supposedly even knew they were being poisoned and didn't cry foul to the medical authorities or the law. All very odd. The last quarter of the book was a bit more cohesive in dealing with court depositions and such, but I finished the book feeling glad to be done with it and wishing it had been placed in the hands of an editor with a big red pen. All in all, it was clumsy and not well-written. As to whether it was factual or not - I'll leave that to others to figure out. My recommendation would be to tell others not to waste their time reading this book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews