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The Five of Hearts: An Intimate Portrait of Henry Adams and His Friends, 1880-1918
Draws on letters, diaries, and other manuscripts to recreate the private lives and relations of a group of friends who were influential writers, artists, and political and financial figures. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
459 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1990
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March 12, 2018
There are two epigrams, to begin. The first is by John Donne: No man is an island. Under that, by J.M. Barrie, a second: To be born is to be wrecked on an island.
Thus, the contradictory nature of the human soul.
There are five such souls in this history, ill at ease in the world at large yet comfortable with each other. They had no real politics nor religion outside their own created elitism, yet one spent his last decades in medieval churches and another would serve four Presidents. They did not hide from society, on the contrary; it's just that it disappointed them so.
Henry and Clover Adams, Robert and Clara Hay, and Clarence King. They called themselves The Five of Hearts; a finite number then. They were pretentious enough to have their own stationary, emblazoned with the Five of Hearts, for when they wrote to each other. And they wrote a lot. Yet Henry loved another woman. Robert did, too. And Clarence was married, but his wife was not invited to join the club. In fact, the others did not know Clarence was married; and his wife never knew his real name.
While they were a select club, the members were not equal. The importance broke on gender lines. Clara Hay has fewer scenes than the others and a reader might not be faulted for forgetting that she was even a member. Clover Adams would be the first to leave the story, and by her own hand; and the same reader would miss her very much.
Oh, the group had other friends, and fancy ones, too: Edith Wharton, Henry Hobson Richardson, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Cecil Spring Rice, John La Farge, William Dean Howells. Henry James was practically an auxiliary member.*
Having just read a book about American painters during the Revolutionary War, I was intrigued when Henry James took a tour of the Capitol and winced at the huge John Trumbull paintings in the Rotunda, deeming them "too serious for a joke and too comic for a Valhalla."
Cecil Spring Rice got to spend time with Henry Adams:
There was no denying the cleverness of Henry Adams and his brothers, he told an English friend, "but they make a profession of eccentricity. One of them wrote a book of which a review appeared so bitter and strong that he wrote the Editor to ask who had done it. He was told, his brother. --Two of them were arguing. One said, 'It seems to me I am the only one of the family who inherits anything of our grandfather's manners.' 'But you dissipated your inheritance young,' answered the other.
John Hay found Cannes "a madness of toad-eating gaiety." Henry James viewed Washington as "overweighted by a single Dome and overaccented by a single Shaft." And while Clarence King found American statuary preposterous, still: The standard European complaint that Americans had talent but no genius was "most unfair," King scoffed, since it overlooked our "positive and unrivaled genius for the inappropriate."
King, who earned early fame as a geologist, was witness to the deficiencies of frontier justice:
In a tale of a barroom trial of an accused horse thief, King described the jury's deliberations and their verdict of innocent. "You'll have to do better than that!" they were told. Half an hour later, they supplied a verdict of guilty. "Correct!" said the court official. "You can come out. We hung him an hour ago." Before the day had ended, the barkeep found the allegedly stolen animals behind the saloon, placidly chewing up decks of playing cards.
An interesting piece of trivia: Henry Adams had booked passage on the return trip of the Titanic, the one she never got to make.
This is an excellent book by a very capable historian. I take issue with only two matters.
In a Preface, O'Toole writes:
I recoiled from Adams's anti-Semitic outbursts, King's contempt for women, and John Hay's scorn for immigrants. But one can try to account for a prejudice without endorsing it, and however disagreeable, these attitudes deserve to be put into context. This I have endeavored to do.
But, THIS she did not do. She doesn't mention Adams's anti-Semitism at all, let alone trying to account for it or placing it in context. And she deals with King's contempt only by telling the sordid tale. Which brings me to the second matter.
Clarence King had a fetish for women of color. He talked and wrote about it a lot. Most thought he was in jest because he was certainly a jester. But King married an African-American woman. Under an assumed name, no less. Ada Copeland only knew him as James Todd. As did their four children. A little joke, he called his first son "Leroy" - le Roi, the King. It was a heartbreaking story. After King's death, Ada Todd King went to court to try and collect what was due her. Her children did, too. I won't tell you how that ends. In Acknowledgments at the end, though, O'Toole simply says, "my quest for descendants of Clarence King yielded no clues." In this day and age, that seems hyperbolic to call that a "quest".
Then again, they were never members of the Club.
** ** ** ** ** ** **
*Indeed, anyone with an interest in Henry James should definitely read this book, if only for the fact that several short stories and at least one novel, The Sacred Fount, were based on James's reflections on the antics of the Five of Hearts. Theodore Roosevelt had this to say of Henry Adams and Henry James: charming men, but exceedingly undesirable companions for any man not of strong nature.
Thus, the contradictory nature of the human soul.
There are five such souls in this history, ill at ease in the world at large yet comfortable with each other. They had no real politics nor religion outside their own created elitism, yet one spent his last decades in medieval churches and another would serve four Presidents. They did not hide from society, on the contrary; it's just that it disappointed them so.
Henry and Clover Adams, Robert and Clara Hay, and Clarence King. They called themselves The Five of Hearts; a finite number then. They were pretentious enough to have their own stationary, emblazoned with the Five of Hearts, for when they wrote to each other. And they wrote a lot. Yet Henry loved another woman. Robert did, too. And Clarence was married, but his wife was not invited to join the club. In fact, the others did not know Clarence was married; and his wife never knew his real name.
While they were a select club, the members were not equal. The importance broke on gender lines. Clara Hay has fewer scenes than the others and a reader might not be faulted for forgetting that she was even a member. Clover Adams would be the first to leave the story, and by her own hand; and the same reader would miss her very much.
Oh, the group had other friends, and fancy ones, too: Edith Wharton, Henry Hobson Richardson, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Cecil Spring Rice, John La Farge, William Dean Howells. Henry James was practically an auxiliary member.*
Having just read a book about American painters during the Revolutionary War, I was intrigued when Henry James took a tour of the Capitol and winced at the huge John Trumbull paintings in the Rotunda, deeming them "too serious for a joke and too comic for a Valhalla."
Cecil Spring Rice got to spend time with Henry Adams:
There was no denying the cleverness of Henry Adams and his brothers, he told an English friend, "but they make a profession of eccentricity. One of them wrote a book of which a review appeared so bitter and strong that he wrote the Editor to ask who had done it. He was told, his brother. --Two of them were arguing. One said, 'It seems to me I am the only one of the family who inherits anything of our grandfather's manners.' 'But you dissipated your inheritance young,' answered the other.
John Hay found Cannes "a madness of toad-eating gaiety." Henry James viewed Washington as "overweighted by a single Dome and overaccented by a single Shaft." And while Clarence King found American statuary preposterous, still: The standard European complaint that Americans had talent but no genius was "most unfair," King scoffed, since it overlooked our "positive and unrivaled genius for the inappropriate."
King, who earned early fame as a geologist, was witness to the deficiencies of frontier justice:
In a tale of a barroom trial of an accused horse thief, King described the jury's deliberations and their verdict of innocent. "You'll have to do better than that!" they were told. Half an hour later, they supplied a verdict of guilty. "Correct!" said the court official. "You can come out. We hung him an hour ago." Before the day had ended, the barkeep found the allegedly stolen animals behind the saloon, placidly chewing up decks of playing cards.
An interesting piece of trivia: Henry Adams had booked passage on the return trip of the Titanic, the one she never got to make.
This is an excellent book by a very capable historian. I take issue with only two matters.
In a Preface, O'Toole writes:
I recoiled from Adams's anti-Semitic outbursts, King's contempt for women, and John Hay's scorn for immigrants. But one can try to account for a prejudice without endorsing it, and however disagreeable, these attitudes deserve to be put into context. This I have endeavored to do.
But, THIS she did not do. She doesn't mention Adams's anti-Semitism at all, let alone trying to account for it or placing it in context. And she deals with King's contempt only by telling the sordid tale. Which brings me to the second matter.
Clarence King had a fetish for women of color. He talked and wrote about it a lot. Most thought he was in jest because he was certainly a jester. But King married an African-American woman. Under an assumed name, no less. Ada Copeland only knew him as James Todd. As did their four children. A little joke, he called his first son "Leroy" - le Roi, the King. It was a heartbreaking story. After King's death, Ada Todd King went to court to try and collect what was due her. Her children did, too. I won't tell you how that ends. In Acknowledgments at the end, though, O'Toole simply says, "my quest for descendants of Clarence King yielded no clues." In this day and age, that seems hyperbolic to call that a "quest".
Then again, they were never members of the Club.
** ** ** ** ** ** **
*Indeed, anyone with an interest in Henry James should definitely read this book, if only for the fact that several short stories and at least one novel, The Sacred Fount, were based on James's reflections on the antics of the Five of Hearts. Theodore Roosevelt had this to say of Henry Adams and Henry James: charming men, but exceedingly undesirable companions for any man not of strong nature.
April 20, 2024
A scholarly work that reads like a novel. Highly recommended for those with an interest in American history.
July 1, 2019
Overall I liked this book very much though I questioned come of the emphasis put on some of the relationships within. A look at the wealthy class during the American Gilded Age- fascinating for the stories of all the Five Hearts ( A circle of friends surrounding Henry and Clover Adams). If you have read The Autobiography of Henry Adams, you should appreciate this book for giving another view of Adams. Late in the book the author discusses the Autobiography in ways that strongly support Adams's key biographer Edward Chalfant. In addition to following the lives of Charles King, John Hay and his wife Clara, and the Adamses- you will meet a variety of other well known artists and writers who came in and out of Henry Adams's life- such as Henry James who makes appearances throughout the book.
April 8, 2013
Once in a long while friendships develop among people and remain in force throughout their adult lives. The figures involved in that relationship share their personal, intellectual, and emotional feelings resulting that at times they appear as extensions of each other. What I have just described is probably a utopian relationship; however the subject matter of THE FIVE OF HEARTS by Patricia O’Toole comes closest to achieving that ideal. The book centers on the interactions between Henry and Clover Adams, John and Clara Hay, and Charles King from the end of the Gilded Age in the late 19th century through the death of Henry Adams near the end of World War I. In her warm and intimate portrait of her characters O’Toole explores all aspects of the interactions of these five individuals who created a salon like atmosphere naming themselves the “five of hearts.” Of the five individuals it is most likely that the reader is somewhat familiar with Henry Adams and John Hay. However, the study of their lives and their spouses along with Charles King provides a much more thorough analysis of late 19th and early 20th century culture and intellectual history than if the author concentrated on Adams and Hay alone. The author provides insights into the flaws of her subjects and their impact on each other, as well as the world they touched. Throughout the book the important figures of the time period ranging from Henry James to Theodore Roosevelt appear and O’Toole offers unique perspectives that are based on thorough research and strong analytical skills. If one is interested in gaining an understanding of the intellectual and personal lives of the Adams and Hay families and the life of Charles King and their important contribution to American history THE FIVE OF HEARTS makes for a wonderful read.
November 26, 2023
Any review I could write of this 30+ year-old work would be dwarfed by the many excellent ones here. The author presents the beautiful and melancholy story of long friendships, including failures, successes, tragedies and triumphs, and stifled romances among this "charmed circle." The personalities were different, yet, somehow, together they found shelter and comfort from a perceived corrupt, declining, and vulgar American republic. The historical background is fascinating with adventures in the mining areas of the West and Mexico, visits to and long stays in Europe, and friendships with the famous artists, writers and leaders of the day. It was a time when elites ruled the world and contrasts so sharply with our own times, as we try to sort out those qualities that create excellent leaders and artists and statesmen. I loved each of the principals in the story, but especially loved Henry Adams, a man of immense intellect and principles, yet somehow not entirely part of his own culture. The Five of Hearts were a unique group of fascinating individuals and this book brought them to life in a most engaging way.
February 4, 2022
The Five of Hearts is the remarkable story of the group of people who dubbed themselves the Five of Hearts during the late 1800s. This is an unusual book, which is essentially a group biography of the five people who became friends between the period of roughly 1870 to 1880. In many respects, the group revolved around Henry Adams, who was a grandson of John Quincy Adams and became well known in his own right as a writer, historian and political pundit. However, he was not the only person in the group who became nationally famous. In the early 1860s, Adams met John Hay and both of them played roles in the Lincoln administration, albeit in very different respects. John Hay was an assistant to President Lincoln early in his career and this set him along a path during which he became a celebrated writer and later had a number of political positions extending into the early 1900s. Another famous member of the five was Clarence King, who in his twenties roamed in the area of the Sierra Nevada's during the latter part of the civil war and used skills in geology he'd developed as a chemistry major at Yale before the war. His explorations in California helped establish his credentials and he convinced the Secretary of War Edwin Stanton that a geological survey of the Fortieth Parallel starting in the Sierra Nevadas would be valuable and thus King gained the role as US Geologist for the survey. King ran the project for several years and helped establish the mining potential for the area being surveyed and became famous when he exposed a hoax related to a field of jewels which had been planted to deceive potential investors.
The fourth member of the Five Hearts was Clara Hay, who married John Hay in 1874. Clara had come from a well to-do family in Cleveland, Ohio, but they had been introduced to each other by a mutual friend in New York. They shared a common love of literature and fell in love. By 1875 they had become parents and moved to Cleveland when the health of Clara's father Amasa Stone began to decline. During this time, John Hay began to write a biography of Lincoln with John Nicolay, a long project which would help make Hay's reputation once published.
The fifth member of the hearts was Clover Hooper, who enthralled Henry Adams soon after they met in the Boston area during a time when Henry was teaching at Harvard. During a summer off from the teaching, Adams met King for the first time and was amazed at the style and accomplishment of the still young man. Adams felt a strong connection from the time of their first meeting, just as he'd felt when he'd met John Hay several years before that. When Adams returned to the Boston area, he spent more time with the Hooper family and fell in love with Clover. In June 1872, Henry and Clover married. Adams loved Clover's intelligence and curiosity. Later, they went on a honeymoon to the Nile and Europe. Clover had some difficulties during the Nile visit, but enjoyed the rest of the time in Europe. When the Adamses returned to the US, they settled in a home in Boston that was not far from that of the Hooper's.
The relationships of these five people grew close, despite some differences in locations. King travelled a great deal for his geologic survey work, but relished his friendship with the others. All of the five had grown up in families with some affluence and the marriages between Henry and Clover, as well as between John Hay and Clara, brought together families who would were in some respects among the elite families in their regions.
In time, the Five grew closer and even had stationery and dinner settings created to commemorate their status as the Five Hearts. I decided to read this book after reading a series of books, some fiction and some non-fiction, where Henry Adams played a highly influential role over an eighty year period. This book focuses on the relationships of the Five Hearts with particular emphasis on the period from 1880 to 1918, but the story began earlier and author Patricia O'Toole take us to those early beginnings. My first literary encounter with the Five Hearts was in Gore Vidal's novel Empire, which had a focus on the decade starting in the mid 1890s where America transitioned from its status as an industrial power to become a world leader. I was fascinated not only by Adams, but by the other Hearts and wanted to know more. I recently finished a more recent biography of Henry Adams called "The Last American Aristocrat," written by David S Brown, which whet my appetite to hear more about the Five Hearts.
I enjoyed reading this book, but occasionally found it to tough sledding, as O'Toole inundates us with so much detail. For example, I enjoyed hearing about King's early career where he established himself as a geologist, but this book bogged down when talking about a long series of business ventures which King had difficulty bringing to a successful end. The sections about Henry and Clover were compelling, but Adams struggled greatly in the aftermath of her death in the mid-1880s. Nonetheless, the interaction between the Five Hearts and their friends, paints a picture of a world which was changing in radical ways from the old school America dominated by elite families such as those of Adams and the Hoopers, into a different era where money and innovation thrust the United States and its people into a much different role. Here, Henry Adams saw the changes coming and was quite verbal in detesting much of what he saw, but still had the wherewithal to write about how these changes were going to happen not only in his life but beyond.
In summary, if you'd like to learn more about the Five Hearts, this book will tell you a lot, but the gems of their stories are interspersed in the midst of so much else. I can see why Gore Vidal chose the route of fiction, which enabled him to create a narrative that focused on the ways both Henry Adams and John Hay got caught up in the swirl of history during this time and gave of the benefit of the point of view from both of these men and other characters. The story of the Five Hearts is both majestic and tragic, but does tell a story about America during a period of transitions, often called the Gilded Age, that today's Americans can learn from. I've enjoyed reading all of the books I mentioned and you may also enjoy a deep dive into the world of Henry Adams and his friends as portrayed both in this book and in the books by Vidal and Brown.
The fourth member of the Five Hearts was Clara Hay, who married John Hay in 1874. Clara had come from a well to-do family in Cleveland, Ohio, but they had been introduced to each other by a mutual friend in New York. They shared a common love of literature and fell in love. By 1875 they had become parents and moved to Cleveland when the health of Clara's father Amasa Stone began to decline. During this time, John Hay began to write a biography of Lincoln with John Nicolay, a long project which would help make Hay's reputation once published.
The fifth member of the hearts was Clover Hooper, who enthralled Henry Adams soon after they met in the Boston area during a time when Henry was teaching at Harvard. During a summer off from the teaching, Adams met King for the first time and was amazed at the style and accomplishment of the still young man. Adams felt a strong connection from the time of their first meeting, just as he'd felt when he'd met John Hay several years before that. When Adams returned to the Boston area, he spent more time with the Hooper family and fell in love with Clover. In June 1872, Henry and Clover married. Adams loved Clover's intelligence and curiosity. Later, they went on a honeymoon to the Nile and Europe. Clover had some difficulties during the Nile visit, but enjoyed the rest of the time in Europe. When the Adamses returned to the US, they settled in a home in Boston that was not far from that of the Hooper's.
The relationships of these five people grew close, despite some differences in locations. King travelled a great deal for his geologic survey work, but relished his friendship with the others. All of the five had grown up in families with some affluence and the marriages between Henry and Clover, as well as between John Hay and Clara, brought together families who would were in some respects among the elite families in their regions.
In time, the Five grew closer and even had stationery and dinner settings created to commemorate their status as the Five Hearts. I decided to read this book after reading a series of books, some fiction and some non-fiction, where Henry Adams played a highly influential role over an eighty year period. This book focuses on the relationships of the Five Hearts with particular emphasis on the period from 1880 to 1918, but the story began earlier and author Patricia O'Toole take us to those early beginnings. My first literary encounter with the Five Hearts was in Gore Vidal's novel Empire, which had a focus on the decade starting in the mid 1890s where America transitioned from its status as an industrial power to become a world leader. I was fascinated not only by Adams, but by the other Hearts and wanted to know more. I recently finished a more recent biography of Henry Adams called "The Last American Aristocrat," written by David S Brown, which whet my appetite to hear more about the Five Hearts.
I enjoyed reading this book, but occasionally found it to tough sledding, as O'Toole inundates us with so much detail. For example, I enjoyed hearing about King's early career where he established himself as a geologist, but this book bogged down when talking about a long series of business ventures which King had difficulty bringing to a successful end. The sections about Henry and Clover were compelling, but Adams struggled greatly in the aftermath of her death in the mid-1880s. Nonetheless, the interaction between the Five Hearts and their friends, paints a picture of a world which was changing in radical ways from the old school America dominated by elite families such as those of Adams and the Hoopers, into a different era where money and innovation thrust the United States and its people into a much different role. Here, Henry Adams saw the changes coming and was quite verbal in detesting much of what he saw, but still had the wherewithal to write about how these changes were going to happen not only in his life but beyond.
In summary, if you'd like to learn more about the Five Hearts, this book will tell you a lot, but the gems of their stories are interspersed in the midst of so much else. I can see why Gore Vidal chose the route of fiction, which enabled him to create a narrative that focused on the ways both Henry Adams and John Hay got caught up in the swirl of history during this time and gave of the benefit of the point of view from both of these men and other characters. The story of the Five Hearts is both majestic and tragic, but does tell a story about America during a period of transitions, often called the Gilded Age, that today's Americans can learn from. I've enjoyed reading all of the books I mentioned and you may also enjoy a deep dive into the world of Henry Adams and his friends as portrayed both in this book and in the books by Vidal and Brown.
March 27, 2007
I read this book when I was in high school and for some reason it has stayed with me ever since. It was even part of why I was attracted to moving to Washington, DC. The book depicts the inner sanctum of a classic DC power marriage, their friends and their sad end which ends up immortalized in a great work of art.
October 18, 2008
I found this book at a Border's clearance section for $4 over a year ago and it remains my best read since then. I was intrigued with the lives, loves, and history of these five friends. O'Toole grabbed my attention with her writing style and how she intertwined the story of the 5 friends. I also love the time frame in history that this story takes place.
July 4, 2023
Teddy Roosevelt on John Hay- “he had a very easy-loving nature and a moral timidity which made him shrink from from all that was rough in life, and therefore from practical affairs. He was at his best at a dinner table or drawing room…his temptation was to associate as far as possible only with men of refined and cultivated tastes…his association with Henry James and Henry Adams… and the tone of satirical cynicism which they admired, and which he always affected when writing them, marked that phase of his character which so impaired his usefulness in public life” (pg. 390).
If unfairly (? Was Hay mostly just right place right time for his accomplishments- Open Door policy and canal construction?) biased in his assessment of Hay’s political life, R’s phrase accurately describes the impression O’Toole gave me of the “five of hearts” generally, a self-title that seemed overly grand and cliquish for the association of Hay, Adams, and King. The personalities presented in O’Toole’s narrative were intolerable. Cliquish, snobbish and self involved, in the manner of spoiled prep school students bound by a mutual sense of insecurity. Gadflies on the periphery deriding the real movers of their time. King was especially intolerable as a personality, but I was disappointed by Adams’ personal and social life in particular.
If unfairly (? Was Hay mostly just right place right time for his accomplishments- Open Door policy and canal construction?) biased in his assessment of Hay’s political life, R’s phrase accurately describes the impression O’Toole gave me of the “five of hearts” generally, a self-title that seemed overly grand and cliquish for the association of Hay, Adams, and King. The personalities presented in O’Toole’s narrative were intolerable. Cliquish, snobbish and self involved, in the manner of spoiled prep school students bound by a mutual sense of insecurity. Gadflies on the periphery deriding the real movers of their time. King was especially intolerable as a personality, but I was disappointed by Adams’ personal and social life in particular.
May 2, 2018
This book follows three friends from the time they emerged as young men until their deaths. Henry Adams, John Hay and Clarence King. The other two hearts are Clover, Henry's wife, and Clara, John's wife. (Clarence had a later clandestine marriage to a black woman.)
When the book opens, Henry is an assitant to his Father, grandson of John Adams and a diplomat in England. Clarence is directing the US geological survey in the West and Hay is assistant to Nicolay who is assistant to Lincoln. All are men of taste and education. Henry wrote Histories. John became Secretary of State under Mckinley and T. Roosevelt. Clarence chased about- owning and selling small mines. The first two were extremely wealthy men. Clarence, although by all reports, brilliant, was almost always in debt.
These three walked through open doors to dine with the most famous men and woman of this period: William and Henry James, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edith Wharton, Henry Cabot Lodge, Henry Hobson Richardson (the famous archetect). As well as Lincoln, Mckinley and Roosevelt and their cabinet. They were peripatetic and constantly traveling between London, Paris, the East Coast, Washington and the West. They also took some rarer journeys to Tahiti, Bali and Hawaii.
Yet their lives were plagued by ill-health, ennui, longing and tragedy. Henry's beloved wife Clover commited suicide as did two of her siblings. John Hay, father-in-law and steel magnate did also. His son Del, fell out of window to his death in the second half of his last year at Harvard . Their good friend, and companion to Henry James also fell to her death from her apartment window. Following his wife's death, Henry coped with his lonliness through friendship primarily in a chaste love with the married.................
Similarly, bored with his wife and family, John Hay, chastely accompanied Nanny Lodge whenever possible. Sometimes reduced to inviting her husband as a last choice fourth.
I have thought that the time between Lincoln and Roosevelt to be a world apart. It is much to my surprise that these years could be contained in the working life of one generation. It puts ones own life span in a different perspective.
The lives of these men, were large and deep in friendship, yet, they all suffered in thier inability to believe in the usefullness of their own lives. My husband read this book after reading all the works of Henry Adams and came to the book with admiration of Adam's wisdom, industry, and attention to detail. I did not have that background. The biographer, Patricia OToole, did not make me feel in awe of the productivety of the author. Rather she made me feel that he has endolent. How I would have loved it, if Patricia could have made me love Henry for his life work.
When the book opens, Henry is an assitant to his Father, grandson of John Adams and a diplomat in England. Clarence is directing the US geological survey in the West and Hay is assistant to Nicolay who is assistant to Lincoln. All are men of taste and education. Henry wrote Histories. John became Secretary of State under Mckinley and T. Roosevelt. Clarence chased about- owning and selling small mines. The first two were extremely wealthy men. Clarence, although by all reports, brilliant, was almost always in debt.
These three walked through open doors to dine with the most famous men and woman of this period: William and Henry James, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edith Wharton, Henry Cabot Lodge, Henry Hobson Richardson (the famous archetect). As well as Lincoln, Mckinley and Roosevelt and their cabinet. They were peripatetic and constantly traveling between London, Paris, the East Coast, Washington and the West. They also took some rarer journeys to Tahiti, Bali and Hawaii.
Yet their lives were plagued by ill-health, ennui, longing and tragedy. Henry's beloved wife Clover commited suicide as did two of her siblings. John Hay, father-in-law and steel magnate did also. His son Del, fell out of window to his death in the second half of his last year at Harvard . Their good friend, and companion to Henry James also fell to her death from her apartment window. Following his wife's death, Henry coped with his lonliness through friendship primarily in a chaste love with the married.................
Similarly, bored with his wife and family, John Hay, chastely accompanied Nanny Lodge whenever possible. Sometimes reduced to inviting her husband as a last choice fourth.
I have thought that the time between Lincoln and Roosevelt to be a world apart. It is much to my surprise that these years could be contained in the working life of one generation. It puts ones own life span in a different perspective.
The lives of these men, were large and deep in friendship, yet, they all suffered in thier inability to believe in the usefullness of their own lives. My husband read this book after reading all the works of Henry Adams and came to the book with admiration of Adam's wisdom, industry, and attention to detail. I did not have that background. The biographer, Patricia OToole, did not make me feel in awe of the productivety of the author. Rather she made me feel that he has endolent. How I would have loved it, if Patricia could have made me love Henry for his life work.
January 15, 2020
I'd read The Education of Henry Adams: An Autobiography a couple years ago, and it had left me with some curiosity about its subject, so I've had this one on my list for awhile.
And while Henry's autobiography left me with the impression I wouldn't have liked him, this truly firmed it up. He and his friends were a group of prejudiced, privileged, elitist assholes who spent far too much time looking down their noses at everything and everyone (and wondering why they were so frequently unhappy).
There were some elements of interest, as the group knew and were involved with a lot of influential and famous people of the age. Additionally, the time period itself (1880-1918) was one of such astronomical change in the USA, it is interesting just to see the feelings of some of the contemporaries.
And while Henry's autobiography left me with the impression I wouldn't have liked him, this truly firmed it up. He and his friends were a group of prejudiced, privileged, elitist assholes who spent far too much time looking down their noses at everything and everyone (and wondering why they were so frequently unhappy).
There were some elements of interest, as the group knew and were involved with a lot of influential and famous people of the age. Additionally, the time period itself (1880-1918) was one of such astronomical change in the USA, it is interesting just to see the feelings of some of the contemporaries.
July 31, 2018
This book was so good, it make me rethink the review of wrote of Hay's biography last month. This was so much better researched and much more thoroughly sourced that it presented more background and more follow-up on Hay's life, that a certain amount of the Hay biography now looks more than a little biased.
Having read now biographies on John Hay, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and now Henry Adams, I can say that had I lived at the turn of the 20th century, I would have admire Hay, enjoyed Saint-Gaudens work, but wanted to have befriended Henry Adams. I feel like I know Adams, the man, the individual, and not just Adams the actor in events of the past. And to know Adams is to know his loss, his grief, his unattainable desires as well as his accomplishments, his family, and his friends. He is one of America's unsung great men, and he should not be forgotten.
Having read now biographies on John Hay, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and now Henry Adams, I can say that had I lived at the turn of the 20th century, I would have admire Hay, enjoyed Saint-Gaudens work, but wanted to have befriended Henry Adams. I feel like I know Adams, the man, the individual, and not just Adams the actor in events of the past. And to know Adams is to know his loss, his grief, his unattainable desires as well as his accomplishments, his family, and his friends. He is one of America's unsung great men, and he should not be forgotten.
August 2, 2021
Histories of the gilded age and early 20th century frequently refer to historian Henry Adams, his friend John Hay and their society circle. Influential, maybe even aristocrats, these men and their wives formed a lifelong bond when all lived in Washington. Adams was renowned as a historian and writer, and Hay -- who stared his government career on Abraham Lincoln's staff -- served various posts, ending as Secretary of State under Theodore Roosevelt. Engaging, well written, this is a good book but not for casual readers of history. Since it's primarily a history of people, the events in the time period -- The Spanish American War, the Paris exposition -- are present but not the main focus of the book. It's about the people, and how they were considered essential members of society but resented many of the traditions and polite necessities that mores of the time dictated.
May 3, 2021
A second read from many years ago, I’ve been very interested in the period and these people. It certainly comes across that the 5 are a group who considered themselves elite and above. And so some of the attitudes are tiresome and the reader looses any sympathy for them. Still, they were at the center of western power and art. John Hay is the most interesting and useful of the group. It’s easy to be impressed. He’s an historical favorite
New or forgotten is the fact that his granddaughter was a founding owner of the NY Mets! This is the center of many other biographies for me including Hay, TR, Gaudens, Singer Sargent, and others. The years America began to build its empire.
New or forgotten is the fact that his granddaughter was a founding owner of the NY Mets! This is the center of many other biographies for me including Hay, TR, Gaudens, Singer Sargent, and others. The years America began to build its empire.
November 7, 2022
Over the years I've enjoyed reading about the Gilded Age and its many characters. This is another well-written book of that period that highlights the lives of Henry and Clover Adams (John Adams and John Quincy Adams great-grandson and grandson, respectively), John and Clara Hay, and Clarence King. One of my favorite books of the era was All the Great Prizes, a biography on John Hay (who was one of Lincoln's private secretaries, a poet/writer, diplomat, and, later in life, McKinley and T. Roosevelt's Secretary of State). The Five of Hearts was comparable to that book and focused on Adams. If you enjoy history and are interested in the Gilded Age, this is book you should try.
February 28, 2022
I’m not sure O’Toole ever convinced me why the five of hearts ever came together; I didn’t truly understand what connected them so deeply. I always wonder what past political characters would make of politics today; I can’t image these kind of affairs going unmentioned in the press. The book never really go going for me until about mid-way through.
August 19, 2025
I enjoyed learning more about the friendship between Henry Adam’s, John Hay, and Clarence King before the turn of the century. I wouldn’t have picked this up but a friend of mine gave it to me given the links to John Hay at Lake Sunapee. It’s a bit dense and dry in spots but a good history lesson and glimpse into the elite world at that time
December 8, 2017
In The Five of Hearts Patricia O'Toole covers the unique friendships of Henry and Clover Adams, John and Clara Hays and Clarence King. The five suffer tragedy and shape late 19th century Washington DC social and political life. Robust lives but they suffer excessive ennui throughout.
December 27, 2018
What a pleasant surprise! My mother gave me this book after I complained about the Education of Henry Adams. This book included all of the humanity and historical context that was lacking from Education.
January 22, 2024
Years ago on a trip to Washington DC, I stumbled upon the National Portrait Gallery and its exhibit The Five of Hearts. Intrigued, I bought the accompanying book and read soon after. But that was years ago, and it assuredly deserved another reading.
December 30, 2021
I read this book with my history book club. Very interesting. There is also another book "Passing Strange" which I started but didn't finish. I would recommend that book too.
June 1, 2019
As long as this book was it surprisingly pulled me along. The reading lighter than I expected but gave good information on these historical people, their jobs in government and their lives in Washington, Paris and on other travels. I can’t wait to get back to D.C. and explore the Hay Adams hotel.
May 31, 2016
I so enjoyed this book! As someone who is devoted to my close friends, I really identified with the people portrayed here. Deep research went into this endeavor, and O'Toole should be commended for her dedication and her wonderful style as well.
It's great to read about people and history through the eyes of those not running the show, but near enough to see what's happening and even sometimes to influence it. Initially a portrait of 5 friends, the book expands outward and includes quite a bit about their other friends and relationships as well.
In short, this book tells the true story of numerous people, many of them quite fascinating, including artists, authors, diplomats, politicians, and the women who influenced and supported them. I certainly recommend it.
It's great to read about people and history through the eyes of those not running the show, but near enough to see what's happening and even sometimes to influence it. Initially a portrait of 5 friends, the book expands outward and includes quite a bit about their other friends and relationships as well.
In short, this book tells the true story of numerous people, many of them quite fascinating, including artists, authors, diplomats, politicians, and the women who influenced and supported them. I certainly recommend it.
July 9, 2013
An absorbing description of Washington’s most impressive circle.
“Henry retreated to his study to write a history of the United States in the opening years of the nineteenth century. Such an existence was idyllic, he thought — ‘like a dream of the golden age.’ Henry fervently believed that the future of the world lay in the United States and that the future of the United States lay in Washington. He reveled in the expectation and fancied himself one of ‘the first rays of light’ that would one day set fire to the world.”
“Henry retreated to his study to write a history of the United States in the opening years of the nineteenth century. Such an existence was idyllic, he thought — ‘like a dream of the golden age.’ Henry fervently believed that the future of the world lay in the United States and that the future of the United States lay in Washington. He reveled in the expectation and fancied himself one of ‘the first rays of light’ that would one day set fire to the world.”
Want to read
April 19, 2008Poor Clover Adams. According to Vivian Gornick's The End of the Novel of Love, this was a group of friends connected by shared depression. Yet they ran with a fascinating and influencial crowd. Should be a interesting look at the Gilded Age.
August 27, 2008
A terrific read. Great history and entertaining prose about these two men, their great friend adventurer Clarence King and the sculptor Augustus Gaudens. I highly recommend this for anyone's shelves.
January 29, 2014
I liked the set-up of this book, it explored the lives of and relationship between Henry and Clover Adams, John and Clara Hay, and Clarence King. The book also gives an interesting perspective on many of the leading figures and important events of the time period.
January 21, 2019
A powerful, lyrical tale about Henry Adams and his circle, and the fragility of the American Dream. Read it!
July 16, 2008
Not my cup of tea, but it does focus on some interesting aspects of polotics and being in the "inner circle". Make sure you drink some strong tea for this read or you might find yourself asleep.
October 11, 2009
Not sure why, but I found this slow-going. Group biographies can feel scattered since the author has to jump from one person to another. 9/09
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