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Vendor
Liepman Literary Agency
Marc Koralnik
Original language
English

CHANEL'S RIVIERA

Anne de Courcy

Life, Love and the Struggle for Survival on the Côte d'Azur, 1930-1944

An insightful exploration of the glorious heyday of 1930s French Riviera
Far from worrying about the onset of war, in the spring of 1938 the burning question on the French Riviera was whether one should curtsey to the Duchess of Windsor. Few of those who had settled there thought much about what was going on in the rest of Europe. It was a golden, glamorous life, far removed from politics or conflict.

Featuring a sparkling cast of artists, writers and historical figures including Winston Churchill, Daisy Fellowes, Salvador Dalí, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Eileen Gray and Edith Wharton, with the enigmatic Coco Chanel at its heart, CHANEL'S RIVIERA is a captivating account of a period that saw some of the deepest extremes of luxury and terror in the whole of the twentieth century.

Anne de Courcy takes us from Chanel's first summer at her Roquebrune villa, La Pausa (which she visited in later years with her German lover), amid the glamour of the pre-war parties and casinos in Antibes, Nice and Cannes, to the horrors of evacuation and the displacement of thousands of families during the Second World War. Enriched with much original research, CHANEL'S RIVIERA explores the fascinating world of the Cote d'Azur elite in the 1930s and 1940s, bringing to vivid life the experiences of both rich and poor, protected and persecuted.

Anne de Courcy is a renowned biographer and journalist, the author of fourteen widely acclaimed works of social history and biography, including THE HUSBAND HUNTERS, THE FISHING FLEET, THE VICEROY'S DAUGHTERS and DEBS AT WAR.
THE FISHING FLEET spent 7 weeks in the Sunday Times Bestseller list and has been optioned for TV by Baby Cow, and THE HUSBAND HUNTERS has also been optioned by Poison Chef. She lives in London and Gloucestershire.
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Published 2019-06-01 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Comments

Anne de Courcy combines the perseverance of a social historian with the panache of the novelist'

'A snapshot of history of the Riviera from 1930 to 1953... a post-Jazz Age heyday of frivolity and decadence... The author's research also yields chilling details about the horror that unfolded on the Riviera with the arrival of the Nazis.' Read more...

Litera

St. Martin's Press

'Tales of glamour, decadence and survival... De Courcy's book is entertaining... a peek, at once envious and satisfyingly censorious, at the lifestyles of the rich and famous.'

'Sparkling, anecdote-rich narrative.' - The Times

Európa

'Dishy and well-researched...this fluidly written history succeeds in capturing the era's intoxicating mix of glitz and grit.' — Publishers Weekly Read more...

'Intoxicating descriptions meticulous detail' — New York Times

'Chanel emerges as a fascinating and contradictory woman. Plenty of biographers have tried and failed to figure her out, so it's a smart choice for De Courcy to depict the designer/perfumer's competing impulses and admit that she's un-figure-outable... I enjoyed CHANEL'S RIVIERA... De Courcy offers some surprising specifics about the impact of war on the Riviera.' — Star Tribune

'Love a bit of real-life sex, disappointment and scandal from some of the 20th century's biggest icons all set against an impossibly luxurious and elegant French backdrop? Then Anne De Courcy's biography of a very select time and place is for you... You'll come away from reading it both better informed and utterly transported.' - Stylist Read more...

‘De Courcy paints a rich canvas.'

‘In CHANEL'S RIVIERA, Anne de Courcy has written a well-researched and compelling story. She maintains a remarkable balance between, on the one hand, Chanel and her world of the rich and famous and, on the other, the lives of ordinary people desperately struggling to survive in a country on the brink of annihilation. Drawing on an immense volume of material, she has succeeded not only in constructing an intriguing portrait of Chanel herself but also in expertly conjuring the two very different worlds that then existed side by side.' - Selina Hastings