The Real Monica – and Nelson DeMille’s Racy “Gold Coast”
By Victoria Crosby
Author Nelson DeMille passed away last month. He was an award-winning writer of many locally-based novels, most notably the “Gold Coast,” about the lives and excesses of the ultra-rich, and not so rich, on Long Island’s north shore.
There are many people who may wish that they were the inspiration for the novel’s raunchy protagonist “Susan Sutter” – but local resident Monica Randall, who is widely credited as being the inspiration for DeMille’s character - is not one of them.
The Gold Coast written by DeMille was published in 1990 and was a smash hit.
But Monica wasn’t thrilled. She objected to several scenes in the novel which she felt were inappropriate and racy – and put her in a negative light.
By her own admission Monica is an old-fashioned woman, even a bit of a prude.
After the publication of the novel – and the widespread attribution of Monica as the lascivious Susan - Monica was harassed with phone calls and messages regarding all the bawdy scenes. One book reviewer described Susan as "an unfaithful wife, always looking for extramarital sex, flirting with married men. Imagine, red hair and green eyes..."
“If only he hadn’t put those vulgar scenes in it,” sighed Monica.
For example, Nelson DeMille wrote about the “Gazebo Society,” a group of friends who dress up in clothes of a past era, Victorian, and have tea parties and take photographs of each other in the gazebos on the grounds of the deserted mansions.
Monica Randall is a leading member of the actual “Gazebo Society.”
There were other coincidences: Monica and her sister used to ride horses in the public paths through the old, abandoned mansions of the North Shore, back in the 1950s and 60s, when the girls were in their teens.
At that time, many mansions were being demolished as the owners could no longer afford the taxes on such large and luxurious homes.
Glen Cove is fortunate that most of the mansions still exist and have been re-purposed for different uses.
The abandoned mansions frequently were left with furniture and clothing, some of which Monica and her sister “rescued” before the demolition process began.
Monica still gives lectures and slide show presentations at libraries and senior centers showing the photographs she took at that time. Her clothing collection is often featured at museums such as the North Shore Historical Museum and Nassau County Museum of Art. She frequently dresses in gowns and other clothing that she rescued from trunks in abandoned mansions prior to their demolition.
In 2022 the Locust Valley Library exhibited oil paintings by Monica, who is herself an author, historic preservationist, film location scout and filmmaker, although she is best known for her books and lectures on the ruins of the mansions of the Gold Coast.
The paintings are of the many estates which Monica visited and photographed from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Some are of gardens and architectural details from mansions that were demolished, including Pembroke in Glen Cove and Laurelton Hall in Oyster Bay, the former home of Tiffany; Some of which still stand, including Winfield, the former Woolworth Mansion in Glen Cove, where Monica Randall lived for a while in the 1970s and wrote a book about it titled Winfield: Living in the Shadow of the Woolworths.
Winfield was purchased in 2022 and is now undergoing renovations and is occupied by Sal Rusi and his family.
The Gold Coast depicts Susan Sutter also painting ruins of the Gold Coast, among other similarities.
DeMille’s publishers and lawyers were reluctant to admit that Monica was his inspiration.
However, in 1990, Nelson DeMille wrote Monica a letter of apology, stating “If you think your feathers are ruffled, you should have heard what a few members of The Creek had to say.”
The Creek being the Country Club in Lattingtown which is mentioned in DeMille’s book (and the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club members weren’t too happy either.) Both venues are described by DeMille as risqué party centers.
“But I do apologize, though I honestly didn’t know the Gazebo Society had anything to do with preservation,” wrote DeMille to Monica. “I don’t know what I thought it was about and can’t really recall where I’d heard of or read of it. Anway, I’ll make it up to you in the next book.”
The Gatehouse, the sequel to The Gold Coast, was published in 2008, and the character of Susan Sutter is hardly mentioned.
According to an article in the June/July 1990 issue of the North Shore Magazine, Nelson DeMille “credits a book written by an old friend of North Shore Magazine” for giving him the idea for his novel.
Monica Randall’s book “Mansions of Long Island’s Gold Coast” was the book drew DeMille’s attention to the opulent world of the North Shore. Living with the reputation of being the "real life Susan Sutter," is a small price Monica had to pay.