Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A biography of Bunny Mellon, the style icon and American aristocrat who designed the White House Rose Garden for her friend JFK and served as a living witness to 20th Century American history, operating in the high-level arenas of politics, diplomacy, art and fashion.

Bunny Mellon, who died in 2014 at age 103, was press-shy during her lifetime. With the co-operation of Bunny Mellon's family, author Meryl Gordon received access to thousands of pages of her letters, diaries and appointment calendars and has interviewed more than 175 people to capture the spirit of this talented American original.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• All Illustrations
• Chapter 1 President Kennedy Has a Request (p. 1)
• Chapter 2 Fifty Summers Later (p. 9)
• Chapter 3 The Auction of the Decade (p. 14)
• Chapter 4 Childhood Treasures: A Bottle and a Book (p. 27)
• Chapter 5 The Making of a Young Gardener (p. 43)
• Chapter 6 Tally-Ho in Virginia (p. 54)
• Chapter 7 The Debutante Dances Through the Depression (p. 67)
• Chapter 8 A Courteous Girl and a Thorough Gentleman (p. 77)
• Chapter 9 Paul Mellon's Rebellion (p. 88)
• Chapter 10 The War Years (p. 107)
• Chapter 11 Millions of Reasons to Remarry (p. 127)
• Chapter 12 The Best-Dressed List (p. 151)
• Chapter 13 A Constant Gardener (p. 171)
• Chapter 14 The Best Friends (p. 191)
• Chapter 15 A Rose by Any Other Name (p. 205)
• Chapter 16 November 22, 1963 (p. 221)
• Chapter 17 Carrying On (p. 229)
• Chapter 18 1968 (p. 253)
• Chapter 19 Paul and Bunny in Love-with Others (p. 267)
• Chapter 20 The Spending of a Robber Baron Fortune (p. 285)
• Chapter 21 The Book Stops Here (p. 309)
• Chapter 22 Entertaining the Royals (Again) (p. 331)
• Chapter 23 Exits and Entrances (p. 355)
• Chapter 24 Enduring the Unendurable (p. 377)
• Chapter 25 A Perilous Political Affair (p. 399)
• Chapter 26 The FBI Makes House Calls (p. 420)
• Chapter 27 Everything Should Be Noticed (p. 438)
• Acknowledgments (p. 453)
• Sources (p. 461)
• Bibliography (p. 495)
• Index (p. 499)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

From her birth into the Lambert pharmaceutical family through her second marriage to billionaire Paul Mellon, Bunny Mellon's life was one of privilege. Her friends and associates comprised a who's who of politicians, dignitaries, financiers, and socialites, while Mellon herself drew recognition as an art collector, philanthropist, style innovator, and, particularly, landscape designer (one of her renowned accomplishments was designing the White House Rose Garden at the request of close friend and former first lady Jacqueline -Kennedy). Gordon (Mrs. Astor Regrets; The Phantom of Fifth Avenue) captures the multiple components of this memorable woman's life, skillfully setting the stage with absorbing details about the family, cultural, and historical elements that helped shape Mellon's world, engagingly sharing the many facets of her 103 years and event-filled journey. The essence of Mellon's personality-independent and deeply enigmatic-shines throughout. The exhaustive and original research, drawn from journals, letters, personal interviews, and previous conversations with Mellon, is smoothly integrated into this admirable work. More than a biography, this title also reflects the people, places, trends, and events of the 20th century and beyond. VERDICT This well-written work transcends one woman's story to present keen insights into the complex fabric of American culture and history. It should appeal to a broad audience.-Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, NJ © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Gordon (Mrs. Astor Regrets) illuminates the virtues and contradictions of socialite Bunny Mellon (1910-2014) in this entertaining tell-all chronicle. Making use of newly available private papers, Gordon paints her subject as an entitled woman with a green thumb and a complex patriotic streak. Over the course of the book, the Listerine-fortune heiress, born Rachel Loew Lambert, evolves from shy schoolmate of interior designer Sister Parish at Foxcroft preparatory school to staunch Democrat and "first friend" during Camelot's heyday to a centenarian planning her own funeral, with a role for Bette Midler singing "The Rose." (When the time came, Midler complied.) Mellon's most celebrated attribute-her aptitude for landscaping-resulted in a request from Pres. John F. Kennedy to design the White House Rose Garden. She had many contradictions. While she flaunted her friendship with Hubert de Givenchy, an overtly gay fashion designer, it took decades for her to accept her daughter's sexual orientation. Despite her generosity to such public figures as John Edwards-she donated millions to his 2008 presidential bid-she wrote a parsimonious will that disappointed her heirs. Gordon peppers the book with interviews with intimates of Mellon's such as her goddaughter Caroline Kennedy, who recalls that Mellon "and Mummy [Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis] were best of friends... with their own special language." The result is a juicy behind-the-scenes tale of American aristocracy. Photos. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Journalist Gordon, author of Mrs. Astor Regrets (2008) and The Phantom of Fifth Avenue (2014), again fascinatingly chronicles the remarkable life of an elite twentieth-century American woman. Born Rachel Lambert in 1910, Bunny, as she was always known, lived to be 103, and live she did. Her first marriage irreparably damaged during WWII, in 1948 Bunny married heir and philanthropist Paul Mellon, with whom she shared a voracious appetite for collecting art. For years, Bunny spent the equivalent of $1 million annually on a Balenciaga wardrobe while she collected homes, all fully staffed, in Virginia, Cape Cod, Antigua, New York, Nantucket, and Paris. But it was Bunny's abiding love for nature and gardening, nursed from childhood, that would remain her greatest joy and the showcase for her unrivaled talent. Close companion to Jackie Kennedy, Bunny designed the White House Rose Garden in 1961 and experienced the ensuing turbulent years alongside her friend. Readers interested in gardening, art, and interior design will drool over Bunny's fine tastes, and her ease at fulfilling every one of them, but all lovers of biographies will marvel at Gordon's portrayal of Bunny's long life, and the significant figures who buzzed in and out of it.--Bostrom, Annie Copyright 2017 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

A rapturous biography of heiress and celebrated landscape gardener Rachel "Bunny" Mellon (1910-2014).Vanity Fair contributor Gordon (The Phantom of Fifth Avenue: The Mysterious Life and Scandalous Death of Heiress Huguette Clark, 2014, etc.) vividly details how Mellon, whose paternal grandfather developed Listerine, was raised in an ultrawealthy milieu of fox hunting, posh boarding schools, and debutante balls. She was groomed to become a lady of excellent deportment; as adoringly described by the author, she was a "fresh blossom from a prominent family" who later married Paul Mellon (Mellon Bank), "the inheritor of a robber baron fortune." Gordon's journalistic skill (she teaches at NYU's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute) is evident in her meticulous description of Mellon's lineage and long life, a portrait constructed through research into dozens of biographies, journals, and letters going back nearly a century. Readers of Gordon's other books will certainly enjoy her portrayals of the amusements, travels, and exploits of Mellon's peers; as demonstrated by both Mrs. Astor Regrets and The Phantom of Fifth Avenue, the author has shown great facility in recounting upper-class lives, especially those of women. Though Mellon was an acclaimed landscaper and gardener and was regarded as a woman with "an extraordinary eye and curiosity," she was hesitant when President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jackie implored her to redesign the White House Rose Garden. (Jackie lauded Mellon as "a visual genius.") Gordon effectively details how Mellon transformed the "forlorn and outdated" garden into a courtyard showpiece by adding magnolia and an assortment of other trees, but her admiring descriptions are occasionally overwrought. Ultimately, Gordon heeded Mellon's directive that, above all, she produce a "friendly, non-gossipy" memoir and "be kind." A reverential biographical portrait and a window into 20th-century American aristocracy. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.