The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post: A Novel

Content Warning: This novel features a brief description of death by suicide.

In 1968, at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, Marjorie Post welcomes President Johnson and the First Lady into her home, feeling like she was right to suggest meeting here. She thinks that saying the president paid a visit sounds anonymous, given that the president changes every four to eight years, but she remains ready to greet them all.

Lady Bird Johnson compliments her home, and Marjorie turns to make an offer to Lyndon B. Johnson, thinking, “I’ve changed so many lives already. And I’ve changed your life, too. I know that as a certainty” (10). She introduces herself as Mrs. Marjorie Merriweather Post.

It is the winter of 1891 in Battle Creek Michigan. Marjorie describes her father Charles William as someone who “molded my world, and then he went on and changed everybody else’s as well” (12). She grew up listening to her father’s stories, especially about presidents, such as his friend Abe Lincoln. Her father lived many lives, eventually settling in Battle Creek when he got sick. Marjorie’s mother, Ella Letitia Merriweather, acted coldly to Charles William, even as he lay sick on the train. They are in Battle Creek to meet with Dr.