The Astor Orphan - A Memoir

The Astor Orphan is an unflinching debut memoir by a direct descendant of John Jacob Astor, Alexandra Aldrich.

She brilliantly tells the story of her eccentric, fractured family; her 1980s childhood of bohemian neglect in the squalid attic of Rokeby, the family’s Hudson Valley Mansion; and her brave escape from the clan. Aldrich reaches back to the Gilded Age when the Astor legacy began to come undone, leaving the Aldrich branch of the family penniless and squabbling over what was left.

Illustrated with black-and-white photographs that bring this faded world into focus, The Astor Orphan is written with the grit of The Glass Castle and set amid the aristocratic decay of Grey Gardens.

American Aristocracy: Go inside the decaying world of Rokeby, the Astor family’s Hudson Valley mansion where a Gilded Age legacy has crumbled into poverty and eccentricity. Coming of Age Memoir: A story of survival and escape, detailing a 1980s childhood of bohemian neglect and the author’s search for identity beyond the shadow of her famous name. Family Secrets: Uncover the history of banished relatives, alcohol-fueled rages, and the emotional neglect that defined generations of a famous American dynasty. Poverty and Wealth: Experience the jarring contrast of living in a 43-room mansion without money for groceries, where a grand inheritance has become a prison of squalor and obligation.