Catherine Hewitt’s life of the prostitute’s daughter who rose to the highest ranks of French society is a largely enthralling readWhen the Comtesse Valtesse de la Bigne died in 1910,at the age of 62, she left behind a grand house filled with paintings, and antiques and objets d’art: the trappings of her career as one of the most successful courtesans in France. What she had also managed to conceal were her unprepossessing origins as Louise Delabigne,the illegitimate daughter of a prostitute who grew up in poverty. Thanks to a mixture of beauty and intelligence, she enraptured – and scandalised – French society, or counting the likes of Manet and Zola as section of her circle. Catherine Hewitt’s debut biography is a mostly successful attempt at placing Valtesse in the wider context of her turbulent age. It might have done with another edit – the word “glittering” is overused and there is a pervasive sense of material overstretched,particularly towards the halt – but at its best this is an enthralling story, told with both conviction and sympathy.
The Mistress of Paris is published by Icon Books (£20). Click here to buy it for £16Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com