CHICAGO, IL, February 15, 2022 /24-7PressRelease/ -- With THE GILDED AGE in the news.. the greatest con woman of the GILDED AGE in United States history will make her debut. The book Greed in the Gilded Age The Brilliant Con of Cassie Chadwick by William Hazelgrove will be released by Roman and Littlefield on Feb 15th. The prepublication reviews Publishers Weekly, Booklist and Library Journal have been strong and a movie deal is in negotiations. The book tells the tale of Cassie Chadwick, a drifter from Canada who set herself up as wife of a rich doctor in Cleveland before moving on to a much bigger con involving the richest man in the world, Andrew Carnegie. With little education, no financial training, and at a time when women didn't even have the vote, Cassie Chadwick (Elizabeth Bigley) moved up the chain of bankers, getting each banker to loan her more than the one before telling each one a simple lie, she was none other than the illegitimate daughter of Andrew Carnegie and she was due to inherit his entire fortune. By the time the police caught up to her she had wrecked the banking system of Cleveland, sending one unfortunate banker to his grave and causing the collapse of a major bank. When the trial was held it was a media event that pushed the trial of Teddy Roosevelt off the front pages with a climactic moment when Andrew Carnegie appeared to face his accuser. Cassie was eventually convicted but not before taking others with her and leaving a legacy as the biggest con woman in the United States only to be eclipsed by Charles Ponzi.
