
Memoir of an Independent Woman
An Unconventional Life Well Lived
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Suzanne Toren
-
By:
-
Tania Grossinger
About this listen
It takes a certain kind of woman to have the courage to defy societal conventions. In an era when her female counterparts were still expected to marry early and have children, Tania Grossinger set out on her own. This is her story. When you reach the age where there is more to look back at than forward to, what do you regret, if anything? One woman’s brave memoir about a life well lived. It takes a certain kind of woman to have the courage to defy societal conventions. In an era when her female counterparts were still expected to marry early and have children, Tania Grossinger set out on her own. This is her story.
After spending her childhood at the famous Grossinger’s resort in the Catskills, Tania Grossinger was the publicist for the groundbreaking The Feminine Mystique (over four million copies sold), spent seven years as the Director of Broadcast Promotion for Playboy Magazine and the Playboy Club, did PR for The $64,000 Question, escaped her first marriage, and went to live in Mexico - and that’s only the beginning. Rubbing shoulders with some of America’s most famous figures, what Tania has to reveal about Ayn Rand (she has a sense of humor after all), Timothy Leary, Jackie Robinson, Hugh Hefner, and the unsolved disappearance of a fellow travel writer in Jamaica, will keep you up at night turning the pages of one of the most interesting women to put pen to paper in recent memory.
©2013 Tania Grossinger (P)2013 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
In Royal Service to the Queen
- A Novel of the Queen's Governess
- By: Tessa Arlen
- Narrated by: Mhairi Morrison
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marion Crawford can remember each of the wonderful 16 years when she was governess to the little Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose: included in their lives, confided in, needed, trusted, and loved. These memories will never dim, ever. In Marion's mind, she will always be their Crawfie. But things become increasingly complicated as the young royals navigate adulthood. It is May 1945, and Princess Elizabeth - the heiress presumptive to the British throne - has fallen in love, and the only member of her family who is happy for her is her governess.
-
-
The reader was excellent
- By Lulu on 01-25-25
By: Tessa Arlen
-
Help Me! Special Edition
- One Woman's Quest to Find Out If Self-Help Really Can Change Your Life
- By: Marianne Power
- Narrated by: Marianne Power, Mary Power
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marianne decided to finally find out if her elusive "perfect existence" - the one without debt, anxiety, or hangover Netflix marathons, the one where she healthily bounced around town and met the cashmere-sweater-wearing man of her dreams - really did lie in the pages of our best-known and acclaimed self-help books. She vowed to test a book a month for one year, following its advice to the letter, taking what she hoped would be the surest path to a flawless new her. But as the months passed, Marianne’s reality was turned upside down.
-
-
Cute Story, good performance.
- By Ken on 10-10-19
By: Marianne Power
-
Mussolini's Daughter
- The Most Dangerous Woman in Europe
- By: Caroline Moorehead
- Narrated by: Kathleen Gati
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Edda Mussolini was the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s oldest and favorite child. At 19, she was married to Count Galleazzo Ciano, Il Duce’s Minister for Foreign Affairs during the 1930s, the most turbulent decade in Italy’s fascist history. In the years preceding World War II, Edda ruled over Italy’s aristocratic families and the cultured and middle classes while selling Fascism on the international stage. How a young woman wielded such control is the heart of Moorehead’s fascinating history.
-
-
Mind Blowing
- By Greg on 01-27-23
-
I Am Hutterite
- By: Mary-Ann Kirkby
- Narrated by: Mary-Ann Kirkby
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Ann-Marie's parents decided to leave their Hutterite colony in Canada with their seven children in tow, it was a complete shock. Overnight, the family was thrust into a society they did not understand, and which knew little of their unique culture. The transition was overwhelming. Desperate to be accepted, ten-year-old Ann-Marie was forced to deny her heritage in order to fit in with her peers. I Am Hutterite chronicles Ann-Marie's quest to reinvent herself as she comes to terms with the painful circumstances that led her family to leave community life.
-
-
Hate to push stop!
- By Grandma B on 11-13-19
By: Mary-Ann Kirkby
-
Medicine Men
- Extreme Appalachian Doctoring
- By: Carolyn Jourdan
- Narrated by: Carey Jones
- Length: 2 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A collection of the most memorable moments from old-school rural physicians who each practiced medicine for more than 50 years in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Hilarious, heroic, heartwarming true stories of miracle cures, ghost dogs, and much madcap medical mayhem.
-
-
Mediocre for Me
- By Jami on 09-28-15
By: Carolyn Jourdan
-
This 'n That
- By: Bette Davis, Michael Herskowitz
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A woman of strong appetites and opinions, Bette Davis minces no words. In frank, no-nonsense terms, she talks about the stroke that nearly killed her and inspires us with the story of her subsequent recovery from cancer - a lively and encouraging account shot through with the star's unique blend of spunk and wit.
-
-
Love this look into Bette Davis’ life and feelings
- By B. Norber on 11-14-17
By: Bette Davis, and others
-
In Royal Service to the Queen
- A Novel of the Queen's Governess
- By: Tessa Arlen
- Narrated by: Mhairi Morrison
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marion Crawford can remember each of the wonderful 16 years when she was governess to the little Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose: included in their lives, confided in, needed, trusted, and loved. These memories will never dim, ever. In Marion's mind, she will always be their Crawfie. But things become increasingly complicated as the young royals navigate adulthood. It is May 1945, and Princess Elizabeth - the heiress presumptive to the British throne - has fallen in love, and the only member of her family who is happy for her is her governess.
-
-
The reader was excellent
- By Lulu on 01-25-25
By: Tessa Arlen
-
Help Me! Special Edition
- One Woman's Quest to Find Out If Self-Help Really Can Change Your Life
- By: Marianne Power
- Narrated by: Marianne Power, Mary Power
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marianne decided to finally find out if her elusive "perfect existence" - the one without debt, anxiety, or hangover Netflix marathons, the one where she healthily bounced around town and met the cashmere-sweater-wearing man of her dreams - really did lie in the pages of our best-known and acclaimed self-help books. She vowed to test a book a month for one year, following its advice to the letter, taking what she hoped would be the surest path to a flawless new her. But as the months passed, Marianne’s reality was turned upside down.
-
-
Cute Story, good performance.
- By Ken on 10-10-19
By: Marianne Power
-
Mussolini's Daughter
- The Most Dangerous Woman in Europe
- By: Caroline Moorehead
- Narrated by: Kathleen Gati
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Edda Mussolini was the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s oldest and favorite child. At 19, she was married to Count Galleazzo Ciano, Il Duce’s Minister for Foreign Affairs during the 1930s, the most turbulent decade in Italy’s fascist history. In the years preceding World War II, Edda ruled over Italy’s aristocratic families and the cultured and middle classes while selling Fascism on the international stage. How a young woman wielded such control is the heart of Moorehead’s fascinating history.
-
-
Mind Blowing
- By Greg on 01-27-23
-
I Am Hutterite
- By: Mary-Ann Kirkby
- Narrated by: Mary-Ann Kirkby
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Ann-Marie's parents decided to leave their Hutterite colony in Canada with their seven children in tow, it was a complete shock. Overnight, the family was thrust into a society they did not understand, and which knew little of their unique culture. The transition was overwhelming. Desperate to be accepted, ten-year-old Ann-Marie was forced to deny her heritage in order to fit in with her peers. I Am Hutterite chronicles Ann-Marie's quest to reinvent herself as she comes to terms with the painful circumstances that led her family to leave community life.
-
-
Hate to push stop!
- By Grandma B on 11-13-19
By: Mary-Ann Kirkby
-
Medicine Men
- Extreme Appalachian Doctoring
- By: Carolyn Jourdan
- Narrated by: Carey Jones
- Length: 2 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A collection of the most memorable moments from old-school rural physicians who each practiced medicine for more than 50 years in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Hilarious, heroic, heartwarming true stories of miracle cures, ghost dogs, and much madcap medical mayhem.
-
-
Mediocre for Me
- By Jami on 09-28-15
By: Carolyn Jourdan
-
This 'n That
- By: Bette Davis, Michael Herskowitz
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A woman of strong appetites and opinions, Bette Davis minces no words. In frank, no-nonsense terms, she talks about the stroke that nearly killed her and inspires us with the story of her subsequent recovery from cancer - a lively and encouraging account shot through with the star's unique blend of spunk and wit.
-
-
Love this look into Bette Davis’ life and feelings
- By B. Norber on 11-14-17
By: Bette Davis, and others
-
Survival in the Shadows
- Seven Jews Hidden in Hitler's Berlin
- By: Barbara Lovenheim
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The remarkable true story of two families that survived against all odds in the heart of the Nazi capital. Survival in the Shadows rivetingly chronicles the incredible survival of seven German Jews in Berlin through the final and most deadly years of the Holocaust.
-
-
Awesome story
- By Kimberly R Gillus on 12-12-15
-
I Belong to Vienna
- A Jewish Family's Story of Exile and Return
- By: Anna Goldenberg, Alta L. Price - translator
- Narrated by: Christa Lewis
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In autumn 1942, Anna Goldenberg's great-grandparents and one of their sons are deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Hans, their elder son, survives by hiding in an apartment in the middle of Nazi-controlled Vienna. But this is no Anne Frank-like existence; teenage Hans passes time in the municipal library and buys standing-room tickets to the Vienna State Opera. Hans never sees his family again. Goldenberg reconstructs this unique story in magnificent reportage.
-
-
deep delving into family history
- By Sasha on 09-08-20
By: Anna Goldenberg, and others
-
American Duchess
- A Novel of Consuelo Vanderbilt
- By: Karen Harper
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Karen Harper tells the tale of Consuelo Vanderbilt, her “Wedding of the Century” to the duke of Marlborough, and her quest to find meaning behind “the glitter and the gold”.
-
-
Surprisingly interesting life
- By labradoodler on 07-24-19
By: Karen Harper
-
Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu
- By: Les Standiford
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Looking at the island of Palm Beach today, with its unmatched mansions, tony shops, and pristine beaches, one is hard pressed to visualize the dense tangle of Palmetto brush and mangroves that it was when visionary entrepreneur and railroad tycoon Henry Flagler first arrived there in April 1893. With the authority and narrative prose style that has gained Standiford's work widespread acclaim, Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu tells the history of this fabled landscape intertwined with the colorful lives of its famous protagonists.
-
-
Another outstanding book by this author
- By Jonathan on 03-07-25
By: Les Standiford
-
You Must Remember This
- Life and Style in Hollywood's Golden Age
- By: Robert J. Wagner, Scott Eyman
- Narrated by: Robert J. Wagner
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A New York Times best seller and a “charming tribute” (Kirkus) to Hollywood’s most beloved era film and television star Robert Wagner has been delighting audiences for more than 60 years, and his many fans flocked to bookstores when he began to record his memories on the page. In his second New York Times best seller, Wagner shares stories of Hollywood life behind the scenes from the 1930s through the 1950s. As poignant as it is revealing You Must Remember This is Wagner’s tender farewell to a legendary era.
-
-
For the true LA/Hollywood affectionado!
- By Sheila on 06-09-14
By: Robert J. Wagner, and others
-
The Good Neighbor
- The Life and Work of Fred Rogers
- By: Maxwell King
- Narrated by: LeVar Burton
- Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first full-length biography of Fred Rogers, The Good Neighbor tells the story of this utterly unique and enduring American icon. Drawing on original interviews, oral histories, and archival documents, Maxwell King traces Rogers’s personal, professional, and artistic life through decades of work, including a surprising decision to walk away from the show to make television for adults, only to return to the neighborhood with increasingly sophisticated episodes, written in collaboration with experts on childhood development.
-
-
Fred Rogers was the person you saw on TV
- By Adam Shields on 10-03-18
By: Maxwell King
-
The End of Normal
- By: Stephanie Madoff Mack
- Narrated by: Stephanie Madoff Mack
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An explosive, heartbreaking memoir from the widow of Mark Madoff and daughter-in-law of Bernard Madoff, the first genuine inside story from a family member who has lived through - and survived - both the public crisis and her own deeply personal tragedy. In this candid insider account, she talks about her idyllic wedding to Mark, what it was really like to be a part of the Madoff family, the build-up to Bernard's confession, and the media frenzy that followed. It is about the loss of the fairytale life she knew and the tragic and final loss of her husband.
-
-
Madoff's family values
- By Olga Rozzell on 10-25-11
-
Audition
- A Memoir
- By: Barbara Walters
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 26 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Young people starting out in television sometimes say to me: 'I want to be you.' My stock reply is always: 'Then you have to take the whole package.'" And now, at last, the most important woman in the history of television journalism gives us that "whole package", in her inspiring and riveting memoir. After more than 40 years of interviewing celebrities of all kinds, Barbara Walters has turned her gift for examination onto herself to reveal the forces that shaped her extraordinary life.
-
-
Absolutely Incredible Listen!
- By Shaddi on 01-22-09
By: Barbara Walters
-
Last Summer at the Golden Hotel
- By: Elyssa Friedland
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In its heyday, The Golden Hotel was the crown jewel of the hotter-than-hot Catskills vacation scene. For more than sixty years, the Goldman and Weingold families - best friends and business partners - have presided over this glamorous resort which served as a second home for well-heeled guests and celebrities. But the Catskills are not what they used to be - and neither is the relationship between the Goldmans and the Weingolds.
-
-
Very frustrating and confusing
- By kendallalycia on 05-26-21
By: Elyssa Friedland
-
Struck by Genius
- How a Brain Injury Made Me a Mathematical Marvel
- By: Jason Padgett, Maureen Ann Seaberg
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings, Kate Rudd
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The remarkable story of an ordinary man who was transformed when a traumatic injury left him with an extraordinary gift. No one sees the world as Jason Padgett does. Water pours from the faucet in crystalline patterns, numbers call to mind distinct geometric shapes, and intricate fractal patterns emerge from the movement of tree branches, revealing the intrinsic mathematical designs hidden in the objects around us. Yet Padgett wasn’t born this way. Twelve years ago, he had never made it past pre-algebra. But a violent mugging forever altered the way his brain works.
-
-
Struck by Delusion
- By Jay on 07-22-14
By: Jason Padgett, and others
-
Heads in Beds
- A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality
- By: Jacob Tomsky
- Narrated by: Jacob Tomsky
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jacob Tomsky has worked in hotels for more than a decade, doing everything from valet parking to manning the front desk. He's checked you in, checked you out, separated your white panties from the white bed sheets, parked your car, tasted your room service, cleaned your toilet, denied you a late check out, given you a wake-up call, eaten M&Ms out of your mini-bar, laughed at your jokes, and taken your money. And in Heads in Beds, he pulls back the curtain on the hospitality business.
-
-
credit worthy
- By colleen on 01-20-13
By: Jacob Tomsky
-
The Last Debutantes
- A Novel
- By: Georgie Blalock
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Valerie de Vere Cole, the niece of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, makes her deep curtsey to the King and Queen of England, she knows she’s part of a world about to end. The daughter of a debt-ridden father and a neglectful mother, Valerie sees firsthand that war is imminent. Nevertheless, Valerie reinvents herself as a carefree and glittering young society woman, befriending other debutantes from England’s aristocracy as well as the vivacious Eunice Kennedy, daughter of the US Ambassador.
-
-
Wonderful characters & great historical references
- By Melissa Holden on 12-17-21
By: Georgie Blalock
Editorial reviews
Award-winning narrator Suzanne Toren's dignified and frank performance perfectly suits Tania Grossinger's honest memoir about growing up on the storied Grossingers resort in the Catskills, mingling with generation-defining luminaries like Tim Leary, Ayn Rand, Betty Friedan, Hugh Hefner, and longtime friend Jackie Robinson, her adventures as a single woman, her affair with a married man, the failure of her own marriage, her many reinventions, and her ability to make peace with her life decisions.
The reminiscence that began in Growing Up at Grossinger’s concludes here as an open letter to an imaginary daughter, brimming with refreshing relatability, bravery, humor, and poignancy.
What listeners say about Memoir of an Independent Woman
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- B Smith
- 02-27-15
Too long
Started out very interesting, but by the end I just wanted it over. The last 5 chapters at least needed the fat trimmed. Too long, too many repeat sentiments.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- B Hart
- 11-03-14
Very interesting listen
What did you love best about Memoir of an Independent Woman?
How Grossinger was a self made woman.
What did you like best about this story?
Just answered that.
Have you listened to any of Suzanne Toren’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Yes. Great like all others.
Any additional comments?
It's a great, never a dull moment book. Very inspiring for young women.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful