This is a tale of greed, opulence, chicanery, and the Gilded Age hope and belief that a pot of gold was just around the corner. At a time when women did not even have the vote, Cassie Chadwick managed to get millions of dollars in unsecured loans from American banks willing to lend on a rumor that she was the illegitimate child of Andrew Carnegie. It is an amazing con and shows the brilliance of the criminal mind that was Elizabeth Bigley and the desperation to have it all at a time when easy money and fabulous wealth seduced rational people into flights of fancy that would result in the ruin of a banking system, destruction of reputations and lives and the embarrassment that a woman who had changed her name no less than three times had taken the wealthiest rung of society for a ride. The con of Cassie Chadwick is a cautionary tale of easy money, avarice, and the belief there is something better over the next hill.
William Hazelgrove is the National Bestselling author of ten novels and seven nonfiction titles. His books have received starred reviews in Publisher Weekly Kirkus, Booklist, Book of the Month Selections, ALA Editor's Choice Awards Junior Library Guild Selections, Literary Guild Selections, History Book Club Selections and optioned for the movies. He was the Ernest Hemingway Writer in Residence where he wrote in the attic of Ernest Hemingway's birthplace. He has written articles and reviews for USA Today, The Smithsonian Magazine, and other publications and has been featured on NPR All Things Considered. The New York Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, CSPAN, USA Today have all covered his books with features. His books Tobacco Sticks, The Pitcher, Real Santa, and Madam President have been optioned for screen and television rights. His book Madam President: The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson is currently in development. He has four forthcoming books. Sally Rand American Sex Symbol, Morristown The Kidnapping of George Washington, The Brilliant Con of Cassie Chadwick, and One Hundred and Sixty Minutes: the Race to Save the Titanic.
A Note to the Reader Prologue Gilded Age Chapter 1: The Trial of the Century Chapter 2: The Chase Chapter 3: The Immigrants Chapter 4: A Genteel Victorian Twist Chapter 5: The Cauldron of Greed Chapter 6: The Tombs Chapter 7: Mrs. Bastado Chapter 8: The High Priestess of Fraudulent Finance Chapter 9: Lady Liberty Chapter 10: The Good Doctor Chapter 11: Madame DeVere Chapter 12: The Bank Failure Chapter 13: The Homestead Chapter 14: The Gold Standard Chapter 15: The Carnegie Subpoena Chapter 16: The Doctor and His Wife Chapter 17: The Queen of Cleveland Chapter 18: The Broken Man Chapter 19: Setting the Hook Chapter 20: The Trial of the Century Begins Chapter 21: The Bait Chapter 22: Survival of the Fittest Chapter 23: The Switch Chapter 24: The Work of a School Boy Chapter 25: The Good Pastor Chapter 26: Geronimo Chapter 27: Cashing In Chapter 28: A Jury of Farmers Chapter 29: Amazing Times Chapter 30: A Conspiracy to Defraud Chapter 31: The Newton Loan Chapter 32: Closing Arguments Chapter 33: The Verdict Chapter 34: The Sentence Chapter 35: The Brilliant Con of Cassie Chadwick
