The Woman Who Knew Everyone

The Power of Perle Mesta, Washington's Most Famous Hostess

Contributors

By Meryl Gordon

Read by Carrington MacDuffie

Formats and Prices

On Sale
Jan 7, 2025
Publisher
Hachette Audio
ISBN-13
9781549181023

Price

$31.99

Format

From a New York Times bestselling author, an revealing biography of feminist Perle Mesta–a beloved socialite, political hostess, and United States envoy.

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 based on Perle’s life – “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.  

Meryl Gordon

About the Author

Meryl Gordon is the New York Times bestselling author of Bunny Mellon and Mrs. Astor Regrets. She is an award-winning journalist and a regular contributor to Vanity Fair. She is on the graduate journalism faculty at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. She is considered an expert on elder abuse and has appeared on NPR, CNN, and other outlets whenever there is a high-profile case.

Learn more about this author