****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
.When I first heard about the book, I questioned its authenticity. Then when I read the three pages or so of resources, I decided to read Child Bride. Pieces of the Elvis and Priscilla puzzle I couldn’t put together before, suddenly began to fit. According to the book, Priscilla was a fan with a crush and a goal of marriage from the beginning. She wasn’t a child seduced by an adult male predator, but on a determined mission and her parents jumped on board and encouraged it. What has really convinced me that the book is true is what I am observing present day. Actually, since the death of Elvis Presley. I have never seen an ex-wife take over like she has. She is not a widow, they were divorced. It doesn’t matter whose fault it was, neither of them were without contribution, but the fact remains that they were divorced at Priscilla‘s request. I suppose she saved Graceland, I don’t know. But I think she could have done that without stepping centerstage. She could have made “saving” Graceland more about Elvis and Lisa Marie, and less about herself. There are other things that greatly concern me. One of the big ones for me is how she cut off from Lisa Elvis’s family with the exception of one cousin. When the Presleys moved from Tupelo to Memphis, Travis Smith and his wife and two sons came in the car with them. Travis was the brother of Gladys Presley. One of his sons, Billy, is still living and well. Along with being Elvis‘s first cousin, he was considered by most of the Elvis entourage to be the one Elvis felt closest to. Yet he and his family have had no contact with Lisa Marie since Elvis died. There are two step brothers, Billy and David Stanley, who grew up at Graceland. They lived with Elvis for 17 years and also had a close relationship with Lisa up until her dad died. Lisa was just nine years old so she would have had no say in family ties. Anyone who knows anything about Elvis Presley, knows that he was all about family. So this separation seems very strange and wrong. Then Lisa died, and none of those people I’ve just mentioned were invited to the memorial service. They watched online just like the rest of us. Then Priscilla learned that Lisa had changed her Will and taken her off as trustee of the estate, making her children Riley and Ben trustees instead, and leaving everything to her four children. It seems like a normal thing to do. Yet Lisa’s service was hardly over before Priscilla began contesting the change. It seems horrible behavior for a mother and grandmother. And I state again, she is the ex-wife of Elvis Presley, not his widow. She says she wasn’t told about the change. I’m sure Lisa was smart enough to know that had she told her, it would have been a battle to the end. I am concerned that Priscilla‘s goal is to dethrone Elvis and put herself there instead. The younger generation who were children or born after Elvis died are romanticizing and accepting whatever she says. They will never get to know the real Elvis Presley. So as much as I would prefer to think otherwise, my sense is that the book is true and I take no pleasure in saying that. As one of the Elvis era, my heart is broken. If you are truly loyal to the very compassionate, good, and talented man this music genius was, I encourage you to do some research, which includes reading this book, and making your own decisions. If we don’t save the legitimate legacy of Elvis, he will soon not be known for anything but the person second to Priscilla and the man she creates him to be. My intention in writing this review is to do what I can to preserve the true legacy of Elvis Presley.
