ATOWN & COUNTRYMUST READ BOOK OF 2025
AN AMAZON BEST BOOK OF THE MONTH - BIOGRAPHIES & MEMOIR
A deeply researched biography of the socialite, political hostess, activist and United States envoy to Luxembourg, Perle Mesta, fromNew York Timesbestselling author Meryl Gordon. Perle Mesta was a force to be reckoned with. In her heyday, this wealthy globe-trotting Washington widow was one of the most famous women in America, garnering as much media attention as Eleanor Roosevelt. Renowned for her world-class parties featuring politicians and celebrities, she was very close to three presidents–Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson. Truman named her as the first female envoy to Luxembourg, which inspired the hit musical
Call Me Madam, which starred Ethel Merman, ran on Broadway for two years and later became a movie. A pioneering supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment, she was a prodigious Democratic fundraiser and rescued Harry Truman’s financially flailing 1948 campaign.
In this intensely researched biography, author Meryl Gordon chronicles Perle’s lavish life and society adventures in Newport, Manhattan and Washington, while highlighting her important, but nearly forgotten contribution to American politics and the feminist movement.
"A lively, well-researched account of a powerful woman." ―Kirkus Reviews
"A reverent ode to an overlooked fixture of midcentury American politics." ―Publishers WeeklyMeryl Gordonis the New York Times bestselling author ofMrs. Astor Regrets: The Hidden Betrayals of A Family Beyond Reproach,Bunny Mellon: The Life of an American Style LegendandThe Phantom of Fifth Avenue. An award-winning journalist, she is a tenured journalism professor at New York University. Her work has appeared inVanitl“-
![The Woman Who Knew Everyone: The Power of Perle Mesta, Washingtons Most Famous [Hardcover]](/itemImage/2/6/2/1/2_7089222.jpg "The Woman Who Knew Everyone: The Power of Perle Mesta, Washingtons Most Famous [Hardcover]")