Anne de Courcy - Chanel a Riviérán

In 1938, the Côte d'Azur was a world of wealth, splendor and extravagance, a holiday destination for such brilliant figures as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Joseph P. Kennedy, Gloria Swanson, the writer Colette, Picasso or Somerset Maugham. Every year, the elite fled to the Riviera from the economic, social and political turmoil that was increasingly covering the rest of Europe; here they could go to the beach, play casinos, and have fun in each other's company. At the center of all this glamor was Coco Chanel, her presence and her magnificent villa, La Pausa, made the coast really desirable. Growing up as an orphan, men were attracted to Coco by her beauty and intelligence, but her amazing talent, relentless work ethic and exceptional taste made her a real icon. But the poison of the surrounding reality slowly penetrated even this magical world. The Nazis appeared, and the glamor of pre-war parties and casinos gave way to the horrors of displacement; thousands of homeless, fleeing families arrived at the holiday resort.
Chanel on the Riviera combines careful research work with an excellent narrative style to present the contradictory age of plenty and hunger, heroes and collaborators in a world that has fallen from the most brilliant heights to the depths, revealing to us the fate of the rich and the poor, the privileged and the outcasts. .