Crowning Ambition
by Linda Goodspeed
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About the Book
Nothing in Redfield Proctor’s early life suggested greatness. He almost died in the Civil War, he squandered a small inheritance. He hated farming and the practice of law.
In 1869, a scheming woman, anxious to get rid of her dead husband’s business partner, enlisted Proctor’s help in gaining control of a small, bankrupt marble mill at Sutherland Falls, Vermont. Proctor was 38. By the time he died 38 years later, he had transformed that tiny, debt-riddled mill into the largest marble operation in the world. He founded a political dynasty that put himself, two sons and one grandson into the governor’s mansion. He handpicked a president and was rewarded with a cabinet position. As a U.S. Senator. His speech on the Senate floor in 1898 helped push the country into a bloody war with Spain. But perhaps his greatest legacy is Washington D.C. itself. No other city is dominated by a single building material as Washington is by Proctor’s marble.
Crowning Ambition is a delightfully engaging historical novel about one of America’s little known giants of the Gilded Age and the passions and ruthless thirst for power that characterized that time.
In 1869, a scheming woman, anxious to get rid of her dead husband’s business partner, enlisted Proctor’s help in gaining control of a small, bankrupt marble mill at Sutherland Falls, Vermont. Proctor was 38. By the time he died 38 years later, he had transformed that tiny, debt-riddled mill into the largest marble operation in the world. He founded a political dynasty that put himself, two sons and one grandson into the governor’s mansion. He handpicked a president and was rewarded with a cabinet position. As a U.S. Senator. His speech on the Senate floor in 1898 helped push the country into a bloody war with Spain. But perhaps his greatest legacy is Washington D.C. itself. No other city is dominated by a single building material as Washington is by Proctor’s marble.
Crowning Ambition is a delightfully engaging historical novel about one of America’s little known giants of the Gilded Age and the passions and ruthless thirst for power that characterized that time.
Author Bio
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