A very interesting biography of a self made woman in 19th Century France. ( )

I'll be honest, I bought this book thinking, based on the amazing cover art and font, that this was a fiction piece, so I shelved it with my To-Be-Read's for a few weeks. When I did pick it up shortly thereafter, I was pleasantly surprised at Ms. Hewitt's writing style. This is no dry historical recitation. Hewitt stealthily imbued the biography with so much atmosphere and magical details that this historical piece read more like a fiction novel. Notably also, the meticulous research behind this piece was both superb and impressive. I haven't read a non-fiction piece this interesting since Erik Larson's "Devil in the White City".

"The Mistress of Paris" is a massive undertaking to recreate the life of one of Paris's most famous (and infamous) courtesans, the self-styled Valtesse de la Bigne, a celebrity in the style of Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian, but in 19th Century France. This girl from the back-streets of Paris bilked her transactional lovers out of (in today's value) millions upon millions of dollars, houses, arts, jewels, and countless other gifts. Her death and burial were akin to a funeral of state. Truly a rare and enterprising individual of genius proportions.

One of the most astonishing things about the book is the actual photographs and artwork of Valtesse included in the middle pages. That beautiful cover art? It's an actual photo of de la Bigne (colorized of course).

That said I did find myself losing interest a few times, realizing I was reading without absorbing the content, thus why I settled on the 4 stars of "really liked it" to reward the stunning effort, yet to take into account my personal feelings of enjoyment which fell more at a 3-star "I liked it". Fans of narrative non-fiction aka creative non-fiction are sure to enjoy this incredible true tale.

#TheMistressofParis
#CatherineHewitt
#ThomasDunneBooks
#StMartinsPress ( )

I had never heard of Valtesse de la Bigne before this book, but I do enjoy a good story about a Parisian lady who rises the social ladder while also stirring up plenty of scandal. This book made for fun reading and I appreciated how the author delved into details about life in 19th-century France, art, the theater, and the etiquette of a British tea to flesh out Valtesse's story. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in 19th-century Paris and who doesn't mind a scandalous lady. ( )

2/5/2017 8:11 AM Recommended in times article on Paris books.

A riveting biography of an amazing woman. The 1880/1890's were described in delightful detail as were the well researched goings-on of a courtesan; her lovers, clothes, villas, art and entertainments ("19th century Paris in all is hedonistic glory"). ( )