Library Journal
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The New York Times best-selling author Pataki (Sisi) specializes in reimagining the lives of prominent women, and now she takes on heiress, hostess, and all-'round mover and shaker Marjorie Merriweather Post. Emphasized here: her taste for activism and adventure, which led her from attempting to save the tsar's treasures in Moscow to skirting the Nazis during World War II to surviving four tempestuous marriages.

Publishers Weekly
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Pataki (The Queen’s Fortune) glides through the life of a real-life cereal heiress in this glossy if hollow portrait. Marjorie’s money comes from her father, C.W. Post, who at the turn of the 20th century makes a fortune by producing healthy and quick foods like Grape-Nuts. Unhappy and rudderless after her parents’ divorce, she quickly accepts a marriage proposal from a rich lawyer. This begins a cycle of marriages and divorces (four of each), netting Marjorie three daughters, one of whom becomes an actor. After WWI, Marjorie takes a more active interest in the Post company, spearheading a major expansion through the acquisition of Birdseye Frozen Foods and General Foods. While married to the U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union in the 1930s, Marjorie buys up Russian artwork and jewelry that becomes the core collection of her mansion in Washington, D.C., which she later wills to the Smithsonian. Lots of notable things happen in Marjorie’s life, but Pataki fails to craft them into a satisfying plot or come up with a significant challenge for Marjorie to overcome. Instead, Marjorie comes across as a pleasant person met at a party and promptly forgotten by the next day. In a crowded field of novels revisiting strong women from recent history, there’s little to make this one stand out. Agent: Lacy Lynch, Dupree/Miller & Assoc. (Feb.)

Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In her latest historical novel, Pataki (The Queen's Fortune) takes on the juicy persona of socialite, businesswoman, and philanthropist Marjorie Merriweather Post. The daughter of self-made entrepreneur C.W. Post, Marjorie inherited his cereal empire and all the responsibilities that went with it. She used her enormous wealth for many worthy causes such as soup kitchens and hospitals as she expanded the reach of the Post brand over the course of the 20th century. Marjorie regularly crossed paths with heads of state and important figures of history, all while living an extravagant lifestyle filled with jewels, priceless art, and mansions. The one thing she couldn't seem to buy, however, was lasting love. That didn't stop her from trying (she was married four times). With so much ground to cover, Pataki skims through Post's long and busy life, touching briefly on key moments; her use of the first person makes this historical novel read more like an autobiography. VERDICT Fans of memoirs and novels about the Gilded Age should enjoy this well-researched book and its fascinating subject.—Laurel Bliss