Truth and Consequences: Life Inside the Madoff Family

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Truth and Consequences: Life Inside the Madoff Family

by Laurie Sandell (Goodreads Author)

3.47 of 5 stars 3.47 · rating details · 191 ratings · 39 reviews

In December 2008, the world watched as master financier Bernard L. Madoff was taken away from his posh Manhattan apartment in handcuffs, accused of swindling thousands of innocent victims-including friends and family-out of billions of dollars in the world's largest Ponzi scheme. Madoff went to jail; he will spend the rest of his life there. But what happened to his devote...more

Hardcover, 352 pages

Published October 31st 2011 by Little, Brown and Company

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Feb 28, 2012 K rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, non-fiction-current

There probably were very few people who didn’t vilify Bernard L. Madoff in December 2008 when it was learned that he and his Bernard L. Madoff Securities Investment LLC had swindled thousands of people, including family, friends, small businesses and non-profits, out of over $55 million in a great Ponzi scheme. And that included his two sons and his wife, at least originally.

Through the eyes of one surviving son, Andrew, his fiancé Catherine Hooper, plus Bernie’s wife Ruth we follow their lives...more There probably were very few people who didn’t vilify Bernard L. Madoff in December 2008 when it was learned that he and his Bernard L. Madoff Securities Investment LLC had swindled thousands of people, including family, friends, small businesses and non-profits, out of over $55 million in a great Ponzi scheme. And that included his two sons and his wife, at least originally.

Through the eyes of one surviving son, Andrew, his fiancé Catherine Hooper, plus Bernie’s wife Ruth we follow their lives before, during and after the implosion of Madoff Securities. Why would we want to do so? Sometimes we learn more about what happened from the closest people to the situation. Luckily I didn’t have anything connected with this investment firm but I have had past experience with family touched by a Ponzi scheme and know of its devastating effects. And I wanted to know how one could do such a terrible thing or allow it to happen if you knew it was going on.

The author explains her rational for writing this book. She was the daughter who wrote the non-fiction book The Impostor’s Daughter in 2009. Her “charming Argentine father was in fact a pathological liar and con artist. Instead of working for the CIA, as I’d long suspected, he’d lived off stolen cash from friends and family. His college degrees were forged, his heroics in Vietnam invented. The revelations threw a grenade into the middle of our family and caused a rift that has yet to heal: My mother denied what I’d written and refused to read the manuscript; my father stopped speaking to me. Still, I knew that the consequences of remaining silent were greater than those of telling the truth. So I wrote the book in spite of my family’s protests.”

After being approached by Catherine Hooper to write a book about the Maddoffs our author agrees to do so to give the affected parties a voice. The chapters are told from various family perspectives – Ruth, Andrew and Catherine — beside what could be gleamed from public records.

And it is a family that has begun to crumble even before December 2008. We are shown a meek Ruth who is behind her husband and does not nor will not question his decisions. We watch as one son, Andrew, tries to leave the firm to handle his own businesses which leads to confrontations with his brother Mark and father Bernie who want to keep him close. And when Catherine enters the picture she finds that Bernie is so controlling he could be labeled an obsessive/compulsive person. I loved the part about how Bernie would get on his knees every day to be sure his blinds were exactly straight along all his windows.

The first son Mark does not come off well – he seems to have been a manic-depressive sort who would blow up even with his loved brother and ended up taking his life on the second anniversary of Mark and Andrew turning in Bernie. Couldn’t he handle that he did the right thing by turning in his father? What would this book have been like if we heard from him personally?

A family in turmoil but does it answer who really knew what? I know how I felt after reading this book but does that make it any better for the victims? Maybe not but I do get a feel for how this financial scheme could have been hidden for those many years from even close ones. Sometimes looking beyond the headlines helps know those behind the headlines.(less)

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Jan 21, 2012 Lynelle rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was surprisingly great. Almost on a topic that I've never had much interest in, but really the author did a great job. I love journalists who write great novels and when their writing makes you think about them as they're doing their job. And what it might be like to be awesome like that one day right!! Yes! I am eager to read Laurie Sandell's first novel about her own life, and just as eager for her to write about the life of someone else. I was impressed. And as for the Madoff's. . ....more

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Nov 08, 2011 K2 ----- rated it 3 of 5 stars

Although people have been hypercritical of this book I found it to be an interesting look at the interior workings of a wealthy family whose patriarch destroyed the financial lives of too many to count. Bernie Madoff was a man who charmed and swindled, who obviously have many of his own demons that came out in the way he interacted with his family throughout their time together and struck most outsiders as extremely odd.

Sandell, the book's author, is the daughter of a man who was not as he appe...more

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Apr 26, 2012 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have had this book on my shelf for a while now. Part of me was hesitant to read it. I felt like I was giving money to the Madoff family and therefore helping them out, and condoning the crime. Its hard to tell if this book is entirely true or partially tweaked but Andrew, Catherine and Ruth seem to be frank and honest in "Truth and Consequences" The book creates a mix of emotions you feel bad for them and the life they are living as a result of Bernie's crime. However I have met so many Madoff...more

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Jan 12, 2012 Special rated it 3 of 5 stars

In December 2008, Bernie Madoff, once considered a premiere fancier, was arrested for the largest ponzi scheme in U.S. history. Although the country had in recent history witnessed several massive corporate fraud cases as the economy spiraled downward and, in some respects, wasn’t surprised by another, somehow the Madoff scandal was different. The reason was Madoff’s family. The two men who walked in that day and reported Maddoff to the authorities weren’t disgruntled investors. They were Maddof...more In December 2008, Bernie Madoff, once considered a premiere fancier, was arrested for the largest ponzi scheme in U.S. history. Although the country had in recent history witnessed several massive corporate fraud cases as the economy spiraled downward and, in some respects, wasn’t surprised by another, somehow the Madoff scandal was different. The reason was Madoff’s family. The two men who walked in that day and reported Maddoff to the authorities weren’t disgruntled investors. They were Maddoff’s own sons, Mark and Andrew.

At first glance, Mark and Andrew seemed to be heroes who had been forced to do the unthinkable all in the name of justice. Even though they had reported Bernie, the fact remained that the two men had worked side-by-side with their father for over twenty years. Everyone, especially the investors who were collectively out over $50 billion, wanted to know: How could Mark and Andrew have not known about Bernie’s ponzi scheme? For most, the answer was simple. The fraud was a family affair. The sons battled rumor, proclaimed their innocence explaining they worked in a separate part of the company, and were never charged with any crime, but the daily scrutiny and speculation would take its toll. In the end, as Bernie sat in prison where he was sentenced to 150 years, his once tightly knit family would fall apart.

Truth and Consequences goes behind the headlines to detail the personal effect Bernie’s actions brought to Mark, Andrew, and his wife, Ruth. Told primarily from the accounts of Andrew and his fiancée, Catherine, Sandell portrays a family that were just as much victims of Bernie as the investors who lost their entire savings. She details Mark and Andrew’s privileged childhood, their close bond with each other and with their mother, and the respect and intimidation they had for their father. Andrew and Mark, according to Sandell, felt shock, horror, and betrayal as their father confessed to them that his entire business was a lie. Whatever anger they felt towards Bernie couldn’t compare to the anger they felt towards their mother who, although supposedly innocent of the fraud, chose to stay with Bernie. The brothers felt their mother had failed to protect them and worse, had chosen Bernie over them. After Bernie is imprisoned, you follow along as Andrew, separated from his first wife and now in love with Catherine, picks himself up to begin a new life while Mark, fixated on the nasty and speculative headlines implicating him and his brother, falls deeper and deeper into despair and misery, eventually committing suicide on the second anniversary of his father’s arrest.

Truth and Consequences is certainly an easy and entertaining read, but I did not feel like I was getting the whole truth. Whereas before I may have believed the brothers’ innocence in the fraud, Sandall’s syrupy sweet account of Andrew makes me doubt him. One doesn’t have to be painted as a choirboy in order to be innocent of fraud and when you go to that extreme, it leaves a foul smell in the air. Sandall’s portrayal of Catherine was even worse and at times, I wondered if this was her application for sainthood. (The reader learns early on that it was Catherine who approached her to write this book. Not surprising and I would be even less surprised if I heard Andrew and Catherine hired her to do so.) Moreover, in this account there are obvious “monsters” in the family other than Bernie. Mark’s wife and, at times, even Mark get a heavy hand by Sandall. In the end, there was good background and descriptions of the events and how the family dealt with it, but the one-sidedness of it all felt disingenuous.
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Jan 21, 2013 Judy Nadler rated it 1 of 5 stars

This is a book about Catherine Hooper (the girlfriend of Bernard Madoff's son Andrew), her incredible brilliance, resourcefulness, and all around "fabulousness". The narrator reads the story with the breathiness appropriate for a romance novel when talking anything Catherine. Her tone changes to one of utter disgust whenever discussing Mark (Bernard Madoff's other son who committed suicide) or Mark's widow Stephanie. I guess the narrator was directed to do so because Catherine's doesn't like the...more

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Dec 25, 2011 CD rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, business-crime

An only moderately well written self serving personal/first person account of the greatest Ponzi scheme in history.

Remarkably unapologetic for the most part and not overly complementary of any of the players. One or two even come off as 'bad guys' and they didn't have anything to do with the main action.

There are a few tidbits and maybe hints of insight into the life and behavior of patriarch Bernie that might tell us something. It is doubtful. Bernard appears to always have been living pretty m...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Todd Janko rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: auto-biography

I have always been interested in con-artists, especially good old Bernie Madoff (he's at a lower level than Ben Bernanke, but still it's a good read). This is an extremely well written book by Laurie Sandell, and you may even feel sorry for sorry for some of the family members. One thing I want to point out here, this really is not about Bernie Madoff, this is about his family and the after math of the whole 50 BILLION (yes billion) scam he had going on since the mid 80's. It's a sad story, one...more

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May 08, 2012 Kimberly rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, library, money, business

After an 8 hour shift at work, I sat down and read this book cover to cover, in one sitting, in a little over 5 hours.

I found the truth and honestly displayed in the book more than I thought would be present. Sandell goes through the family history, the tense and backhanded family interactions, the illogical thinking of Madoff senior and the ramifications of everyone involved in such an engaging manor that I felt I WANTED to finish the book in curiosity.

If you're curious about the inside of the...more

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Apr 17, 2012 Stacy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Sad. Everything in this book is just...sad. Like Shakespearean-tragedy sad. Bernie Madoff - who shows little to NO remorse. When asked what would happen to their family and friends, who lost everything thanks to his Ponzi scheme? "They'll be fine."
No Bernie, they are not fine. They are broke, going back to work in the 70's, and completely devastated.
The family is torn apart - one son kills himself. Andrew and Ruth seem to be picking up the pieces but Ruth still hasn't left Bernie. Mark's wife a...more

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Jul 14, 2012 TC rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: white-collar-crime

This book reconstructs conversations and at time reads like a novel. It is primarily the story of Life with Bernie and Life After the Fall of Berne told from the perspective of his surviving son Andrew, Andrew's fiancé Catherine, and Bernie's wife of fifty years, Ruth. Unsurprisingly, they and the other people who participated in the author's interviews come across as very much victims of Bernie, their reputations unfairly ruined by an obsessive yet sloppy press and a vengeful public; and those...more This book reconstructs conversations and at time reads like a novel. It is primarily the story of Life with Bernie and Life After the Fall of Berne told from the perspective of his surviving son Andrew, Andrew's fiancé Catherine, and Bernie's wife of fifty years, Ruth. Unsurprisingly, they and the other people who participated in the author's interviews come across as very much victims of Bernie, their reputations unfairly ruined by an obsessive yet sloppy press and a vengeful public; and those who were not interviewed--some ex-wives, for example, his brother Peter, and of course Mark Madoff, the older son who committed suicide on the second anniversary of his father's confession--come across as more conflicted, or perhaps just annoying. There are a lot of family dynamics here, for sure, and if the scandal had never broken, it would make a great plot for a long-running prime time soap opera on the rich and crabby.

Regardless of whether this is an accurate account or a brilliant PR job, it's still compelling, and, interesting--particularly the story near the middle that focuses on Catherine's attempts to fit in with a family that was somehow simultaneously sophisticated, yet crass. Once again, for a crowd that was supposedly well-heeled and connected, they come across as little more than a bunch of kvetchers having dinner at Grossingers. That a woman of great independence and entrepreneurial spirit like Catherine should be reduced to a self-conscious wreck trying to impress such a family because of the man she loves is in itself a fascinating story of what love will do.

As for Bernie himself, despite intimate portraits painted by those who lived with him their whole lives, his motives are no more clear than they were before. It is still hard to tell if he was a brilliant sociopathic evil genius, or just a neurotic schmendrick who got lucky. The author herself admits as much at the end, saying he's still a "mystery." However, the constant stories of his obsessiveness with neatness (a trait pointed out in other books, but here spelled out in many anecdotes) makes it sound like being around him in general was just a plain painful experience.

No doubt that in addition to Bernie's financial victims, there are many people who are his indirect victims. His brother and sons helped him run a legitimate trading and market-making business that hundreds of people worked for; and those people probably have to leave those years off their resumes because everyone will assume they're co-conspirators in the largest criminal fraud in history. Madoff's family have the additional burden of not only sharing that work experience, but also of sharing the name. This book helps one realize that that itself is not a crime, despite the fact they'll be punished for it for the rest of their lives.(less)

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Nov 03, 2011 Oldesq rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, madoff

With cooperation from Andrew Madoff, Ruth Madoff, Catherine Hooper (Andrew's fiancee) and Susan (the late Mark Madoff's first wife), Sandell tells of life inside the Madoff family and of events before and after the revelation that Bernard Madoff's investment advisory business was a huge Ponzi scheme. Unfortunately, the amount of careful spin is most annoying to the reader. As one example, Madoff's two sons- well into their forties in December of 2008 are uniformly referred to as "boys."

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Jun 20, 2012 Southerngal888 added it

I found this book very interesting and well-written. It is supposed to be life inside the Madoff family from an outsider author but it did leave out big chunks such as the people who were affected by the actions of B. Madoff. The book tries to come across showing that the 2 sons who worked for B. Madoff were not knowledgable about the goings on of ripping off people friends family with the Ponzi scheme. Have you read it? I do like to read bios and historical type as well as fiction.

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Nov 07, 2011 Katy rated it 2 of 5 stars

The writing feels hasty and unimaginative, and the subjects are almost universally unlikeable. Interesting mostly because of the shocking egocentrism and total lack of perspective it portrays--not of Madoff himself, who was not involved with the book, but of his family members, who are nearly all unable to perceive "consequences" for anyone but themselves. The younger son, Andrew, is the only one who comes out looking human. Not horrible, but not recommended for any but the morbidly curious.

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Mar 08, 2013 Wendy Gorringe rated it 3 of 5 stars

I found it to be an interesting look at the inner workings of a wealthy family whose father destroyed the financial lives of too many to count.It was written by a woman whose father was also not what he seemed and she wrote a book about her father called "The Imposters Daughter." I also read "The End of Normal" by another Madoff family member which gave a slightly different version of what happened.

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Dec 30, 2011 Jen rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed reading this book. I didn't know much about the whole Madoff scandal until I read this book and I thought it was interesting. I liked the pictures that were in the book and helped me identify with the characters. I know that is was biased because it was mostly from Andrew and Catherine but I like it and read easily.

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Oct 08, 2012 Rick Naff rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very good book about the personal impact to the Madoff family of the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. Extensive interviews with family members shows their unawareness of the situation and what life was like before, during and after Bernie was turned in by his son.

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Sep 09, 2012 Susan Sutton rated it 2 of 5 stars

A little to one-sided for me ... the participants interviewed come up too sympathetic and kind of uninteresting. Also, I listened to the audio book and found the narrator overly expressive, especially with the New York accent of Ruth ... a little grating.

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Jan 14, 2012 Sarah added it

I thought this book was excellent. I knew nothing about the Madoff family or the scandal surrounding them so it was very engrossing for me. The author handled the subject well and did a good job of focusing on how they all felt and saw the world. It made me feel sad for them because they were victims just like everyone else.

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Nov 27, 2011 Sandy Bergeron rated it 5 of 5 stars

Am curious now to read the book by Stephanie Madoff. Stephanie was certainly not portrayed as the nicest person in this book, although she was not the main focus. This book was written from the perspective of Andrew Madoff and his fiancé, Catherine.

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Nov 13, 2011 Sandy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Interesting story, very well written book. Makes me want to read both the other memoir by this author and the Madoff book by the other brother's widow that just came out. I am sure she will have a very different perspective.

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Dec 10, 2011 Jeannine rated it 1 of 5 stars

If the intention of this book was to invoke sympathy for the family, all it succeeded in doing was make this bunch look pathetic. Then again, maybe they just needed some cash. And the writing was quite amateurish.

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May 29, 2012 Elise Van is currently reading it

A little slow at first, but then the family drama gets under your skin and makes you read on. So far I can't imagine living in such an emotionally fragile family. Yikes!

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Mar 31, 2013 Sue-Ellen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-reading-challenge

I was surprised at how open honest this book, while we will never know why he did this reading how the family coped and continues to cope made for a good read.

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Jul 30, 2012 Tu rated it 3 of 5 stars

The story got me thinking a lot. Somehow it made me think of my dad who is not as horrible as Bernie but it wouldn't be too much to describe him as "incapable of being sincere" either. And I think if there was one thing I could learn from Andrew, that would be his strive/willingness to start over again and to never give up no matter what.

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Jun 08, 2012 Theresa rated it 4 of 5 stars

It is easy to understand how the family had no idea what Bernie Madoff was doing. He ran his business with an iron hand and allowed no one near it!

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Mar 19, 2012 Robinne added it

Overall, disappointing. More superficial and less illuminating than it should have been given the access the author had to the central figures.

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May 28, 2012 Lisafaith rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs

Fascinating to read the inside life of the Madoffs and the terrible effect his lives had on his family

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Jul 08, 2012 Nancy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Very interesting look at the Madoff family and what they didn't know about their dad.

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May 24, 2012 Kim rated it 3 of 5 stars

Fascinating look into how Madoff' son dealt with his father's betrayals.

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About Laurie Sandell

Laurie Sandell has written for Esquire, GQ, Glamour, Marie Claire and InStyle, among others, and has contributed cartoons to New York, Glamour, and the Wall Street Journal. Her first book, the graphic memoir The Impostor’s Daughter, was nominated for a 2009 Eisner Award. Her new book, Truth and Consequences: Life Inside the Madoff Family, was published by Little, Brown on October 31, 2011. She liv...more

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