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Author Hewitt, Catherine, author.

Title The mistress of Paris : the 19th-century courtesan who built an empire on a secret / Catherine Hewitt.

Publication Info. New York : Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin's Press, 2017.
©2015

Copies

Location Call No. Status
 Marlborough, Richmond Memorial Library - Adult Department  B LA BIGNE    Check Shelf
 Middletown, Russell Library - Adult Biography  B-LABIGNE HEW    Check Shelf
 New Britain, Main Library - Non Fiction  944.36 H49    Check Shelf
 Simsbury Public Library - Biographies  BIOG LA BINGE, VALTESSE DE    Check Shelf
 Southington Library - Adult  B LA BIGNE    Check Shelf
 Windsor Locks Public Library - Adult Department  B LA BIGNE    Check Shelf
Edition First U.S. edition.
Description 358 pages, [8] unnumbered pages of plate : illustrations (some color), maps ; 25 cm
Note First published in the United Kingdom by Icon Books Ltd, c2015.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages [303]-350) and index.
Contents A child of the Revolution -- The child becomes a woman -- First love, first appearances -- Creation -- A courtesan must never cry -- The lioness, her prey and the cost -- Names and places -- The union of artists -- Words and wit -- Valtesse and Zola's Nana -- A picture speaks a thousand words -- A political affair: Gambetta, Annam and Tonkin -- The thickness of blood -- Slander, scandal and sun queens -- The thrill of the new: the comtesse in Monte Carlo -- The feminine touch -- New beginnings: the sale of the house -- The final act: preparing a legacy.
Summary "Comtesse Valtesse de la Bigne was a celebrated nineteenth-century Parisian courtesan. She was painted by Manet and inspired Emile Zola, who immortalized her in his scandalous novel Nana. Her rumored affairs with Napoleon III and the future Edward VII kept gossip columns full. But her glamorous existence hid a dark secret: she was no Comtesse. She was born into abject poverty, raised on a squalid Paris backstreet; the lowest of the low. Yet she transformed herself into an enchantress who possessed a small fortune, three mansions, fabulous carriages, and art that drew the envy of connoisseurs across France and Europe. A consummate show-woman, she ensured that her life--and even her death--remained shrouded in just enough mystery to keep her audience hungry for more. Catherine Hewitt's biography, The Mistress of Paris, tells the forgotten story of a remarkable French woman who, though her roots were lowly, never stopped aiming high."--Provided by publisher.
Subject La Bigne, Valtesse de, 1848-1910.
La Bigne, Valtesse de, 1848-1910. (OCoLC)fst00452507
Courtesans -- France -- Paris -- Biography.
Paris (France) -- Social life and customs -- 19th century.
France -- Moral conditions -- History -- 19th century.
Courtesans. (OCoLC)fst00881707
Manners and customs. (OCoLC)fst01007815
Moral conditions. (OCoLC)fst01026043
France. (OCoLC)fst01204289
France -- Paris. (OCoLC)fst01205283
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical.
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women.
HISTORY / Europe / France.
Chronological Term 1800-1899
Genre/Form Biographies.
History. (OCoLC)fst01411628
Added Title Mistress of Paris, the nineteenth-century courtesan who built an empire on a secret
ISBN 9781250120663 (hardcover)
1250120667 (hardcover)
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