Title: The Thirteenth Husband
Author: Greer Macallister
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication date: August 6, 2024
Length: 336 pages
Genre: Historical fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:
Based on a real woman from history, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets The Haunting of Hill House in this fictional tell-all narrated by the glamorous Aimee Crocker, revealing everything from her mischievous days in German finishing school to dinners with Hawaiian royalty to lavish Astor parties in Manhattan. But behind Aimee’s public notoriety, there’s private pain.
When Aimee is ten years old, as the night dips into the witching hour, the Woman in White appears to her. Minutes later, Aimee’s father is dead—and Aimee inherits a fortune. But the Woman in White never really leaves Aimee, appearing as a sinister specter before every tragedy in her life. Despite Aimee’s wealth, her cross-continental travels, and her increasingly shocking progression through husbands, Aimee is haunted by the unidentifiable Woman’s mysterious motivations.
Tearing through millions of dollars, four continents, and a hearty collection of husbands, real-life heiress Aimee Crocker blazed an unbelievable trail of public scandal, private tragedy, and the kind of strong independent woman the 1880s had never seen. Her life was stranger than fiction and brighter than the stars, and she whirled through her days as if she was being chased by something larger than herself. Greer Macallister brilliantly takes us into her world and spins a tale that you won’t soon forget.
I’d never heard of Aimee Crocker before coming across this new historical novel by talented author Greer Macallister — but I suppose if I’d been around in the 1880s, there’d be no avoiding her. I get the feeling Aimee Crocker was Paris Hilton or Kardashian-level tabloid fodder back in her day. Her every move was analyzed, gossiped over, and fed through the scandal and rumor mill.
Amy (as she was originally named) was the daughter of an extremely wealthy man, and at age 10, upon her father’s death, inherited $10 million — in today’s economy, that would be equivalent to upwards of $275 million.
Amy was never exactly sedate, but in her earlier years, it seemed her mother at least attempted to keep her in line with society expectations. As portrayed in The Thirteenth Husband, Amy marries her first husband after he wins her in a poker game (well, he wins the right to propose to her) — and Amy, always up for adventure, decides to go along with it.
She’s quite the free spirit, as we see over and over again throughout The Thirteenth Husband. Not only does Amy divorce her husband at a time when being a divorcée is considered shameful, she remarries, travels the world, takes and discards lovers, loses custody of her child in an ugly court case, gets tattooed, and embraces Buddhism, spiritualism, and even the occult.
Images of Amy (miscellaneous sources via Google)
The Thirteenth Husband is written as a first-person account of Amy’s life, through her ups and downs and many marriages. Her life is very much influenced by her interactions with a ghostly presence who visits her in her dreams and seems to offer warnings of loss and disaster. These dream visits propel Amy to seek out palm readers, mediums, and other spiritualists throughout her life, as she seeks the key to understanding her purpose and the hidden messages from the Woman in White.
It’s an interesting character study, as well as a look at the life of someone who refuses to play by society’s rules — and the good and bad outcomes that she faces as a result. Of course, it’s her millions that give her the freedom to behave as she does — someone without that huge fortune (and the power it conveys) could never have gotten away with these types of escapades.
She does make very questionable choices about men and marriage, and in fact (or at least, in the fictionalized version of her life), she only truly marries for love once out of all her relationships. (And no, she doesn’t actually have thirteen husbands… but there’s a reason for the book’s title).
I enjoyed The Thirteenth Husband, but it didn’t quick click for me as a flowing narrative. Amy herself is fascinating, of course, but the book feels very episodic. Each episode is interesting, especially when we learn that many of the most sensational events actually occurred in real life (such as a deadly train crash on her first honeymoon and the kidnapping of her daughter during her divorce proceedings). Still, each episode ends and the story moves on, and it can be difficult to see the connections between parts of her life or how they change her over time.
I’m glad to have read The Thirteenth Husband, and appreciated reading the author’s notes on sources and where she embellished versus sticking to the documented history. It’s also fun to learn that Amy herself was an author! During her lifetime, she published both a book of stories (which she refers to as “fantasies”) and a memoir (which has a defiant name that I love).
- Moon-Madness and Other Fantasies is free to read/download via Project Gutenberg. (It’s quite short — I read it in one sitting, and was enchanted get a glimpse of Aimee’s imagination)
- And I’d Do It Again: Aimee’s memoir, available through the usual new and used book sources. I definitely want to read it! Especially based on this preview of the opening pages:
I’m so glad to have been introduced to this remarkable woman through The Thirteenth Husband!
Bookshelf Fantasies 
She does sound fascinating, and I’ve never heard of her either! Thanks for sharing😁
Thanks! It was great to learn about a woman I’d never known about, but who apparently made a huge mark on society (and was probably a ton of fun to know).
That introduction Aimee Crocker wrote to her own book totally makes me want to read that one! She sounds like a fascinating person who led a very interesting life.
I already have a library hold in for her memoir! She seems like she would have been a total blast to know.
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