Savage Grace

[Baekeland, Barbara Daly] Robins, Natalie / Aronson, Steven M.L. Savage Grace, The Story of a Doomed Family. His Great Grandfather was an Industrial Genius. His Family had Wealth, Beauty and Power, he Committed the Crime of Crimes. First Edition. London, Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1985. 23.6cm 15.7cm. 473 pages with several photographs. Original Hardcover with original dustjacket in protective collector's mylar. Excellent condition with only minor signs of wear. Related newspaper-article pasted into the book on page 368. The Baekeland family/ genius, wealth, beauty/ Leo Baekeland invented the plastic, Bakelite, at the turn of the century/ His grandson, Brooks, once described as an intellectual Errol Flynn, married the flamboyant society hostess, Barbara Daly/ their son Antony was strikingly handsome/ soon scandal broke: Brooks was living in France with his son's girlfriend/ in 1972 Antony Baekeland stabbed his mother to death with a kitchen knife in her London flat/ letters, confidential hospital and prison documents/ hundreds of candid interviews/ a powerful portrait of obsessive love and murder/ the Baekelands were incapable of saving themselves/ their envied existence harboured a deadly force/ compulsive and shattering/ money, madness and matricide. Natalie Robins is the author of four books of poetry/ Steven M.L. Aronson was educated at Yale and Christ Church, Oxford, and is the author of a book, Hype.