Madoff victim Penney scorned for sob stories

After risking her life savings by investing everything with the disgraced financier Bernard Madoff, Alexandra Penney (picture courtesy of the Daily Beast), a New York author, journalist and self-proclaimed painter, appears to be risking her dignity on both sides of the Atlantic. In a blog for the online Daily Beast last week, she wrote of her anguish on hearing that Madoff had been arrested and realising her career earnings were in jeopardy.

All very sad - expect Penney then went on, much to the glee of her readers, to question whether she would have to fire her maid Yolanda. "I have about 40 white shirts," she wrote. "They make me feel fresh and ready to face whatever battles I may be fighting in the studio to get the best out of my work. How am I going to iron those shirts so I can still feel like a poor civilised person?"

To which the response from readers was not generous. "Go get in line with the rest of us at WalMart," wrote one. "I'm glad you lost your money," said another. "Ultimately, I think this will be a good thing for you... You took everything you had for granted."

Undeterred, Penney re-wrote her blog for an article in the Sunday Times. "Since this happened last Thursday, I have barely left my apartment," she told her British audience. "I haven't been out for dinner; haven't bought groceries. Can't remember the last time I ate a full meal. Food, which is one of my most favourite things in the world, has become meaningless. But I look on that as an upside."

Penney went on: "Yesterday, I took my first subway ride in 30 years. Dennis [her 'consort' as she calls him] came with me to show me how to get a MetroCard. The world looks very different from a crowded Lexington Avenue No. 6 train." When she wrote the same paragraph for the Daily Beast, one reader responded: "Boo hoo. I'll cry all night." Will the Sunday Times audience be any kinder?

Meanwhile, Madoff remains under house arrest in his Manhattan apartment, wearing an electronic tag fitted to his ankle and only allowed out for court-approved appointments. Whether his maid continues to visit, in order to keep his and Mrs Madoff's shirts pressed, we are not informed. Watch this space. ·