Silver Medal Florida Book Awards Nonfiction
In the early 20th century, Bertha Palmer was one of the best-known and wealthiest women in America. She was an art collector, women's rights advocate, businesswoman, owner of Chicago's Palmer House Hotel, and had elegant homes in Chicago, Paris, and London.
In 1910 she traveled to the small and rough settlement called Sarasota on the west coast of Florida. For some reason, she decided to spend much of each year for the rest of her life on one of America's last frontiers, investing in cattle and farming, creating communities out of marshlands, pine forests, and tropical jungles. The society queen and social reform advocate excelled as a frontier entrepreneur, just as she had in every other endeavor in her life. She managed to make a good deal of money and to change Sarasota forever.
My Thoughts:
I loved reading Suncoast Empire: Bertha Honore Palmer, Her Family, and the Rise of Sarasota by Frank A. Cassell. I have a substantial bias as I spent much of my childhood in Sarasota and still live near the beautiful city. Though I’ve been in the area all my life, I found much history that I never knew prior to reading Suncoast Empire.
Frank A. Cassell, author of Suncoast Empire, is a retired professor and the narrative demonstrates his skill in conveying detailed historical information while interesting the reader/audience. My favorite part of the book was the biography of Bertha Palmer. This portion occupied substantial page space but felt just right for the book – not too long, not too short.
Following the biography, Suncoast Empire focuses mainly
on the last few years of Bertha’s life and explores how her presence and
business affected the small community of 1910’s Sarasota. Given her age and the
short years she had in Sarasota, her accomplishments amazed me. Over 100 years
later, Sarasota is greatly changed from Bertha’s time, but her imprints are
still here in the streets named after her family, the areas of the county that she
labeled, and the reputation she promoted of Sarasota as a beautiful, tropical
playground for the wealthy.
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