Mistress of the Ritz
A Novel
(Sprache: Englisch)
A captivating novel based on the story of the extraordinary real-life American woman who secretly worked for the French Resistance during World War II while playing hostess to the invading Germans at the iconic Hôtel Ritz in Paris from the New York Times...
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A captivating novel based on the story of the extraordinary real-life American woman who secretly worked for the French Resistance during World War II while playing hostess to the invading Germans at the iconic Hôtel Ritz in Paris from the New York Times bestselling author of The Aviator's Wife and The Swans of Fifth Avenue.A compelling portrait of a marriage and a nation at war from within. Kate Quinn, author of The Alice Network
Nothing bad can happen at the Ritz; inside its gilded walls every woman looks beautiful, every man appears witty. Favored guests like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Coco Chanel, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor walk through its famous doors to be welcomed and pampered by Blanche Auzello and her husband, Claude, the hotel s director. The Auzellos are the mistress and master of the Ritz, allowing the glamour and glitz to take their minds off their troubled marriage, and off the secrets that they keep from their guests and each other.
Until June 1940, when the German army sweeps into Paris, setting up headquarters at the Ritz. Suddenly, with the likes of Hermann Goëring moving into suites once occupied by royalty, Blanche and Claude must navigate a terrifying new reality. One that entails even more secrets and lies. One that may destroy the tempestuous marriage between this beautiful, reckless American and her very proper Frenchman. For in order to survive and strike a blow against their Nazi guests Blanche and Claude must spin a web of deceit that ensnares everything and everyone they cherish.
But one secret is shared between Blanche and Claude alone the secret that, in the end, threatens to imperil both of their lives, and to bring down the legendary Ritz itself.
Based on true events, Mistress of the Ritz is a taut tale of suspense wrapped up in a love story for the ages, the inspiring story of a woman and a man who discover the best in each other amid the turbulence of war.
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Praise for Mistress of the Ritz
No one writes of the complexities of women s lives and loves like Melanie Benjamin. In Mistress of the Ritz, Benjamin brings wartime Paris brilliantly to life. . . . Intense, illuminating, and ultimately inspiring! Elizabeth Letts, New York Times bestselling author of Finding Dorothy
No one writes of the complexities of women s lives and loves like Melanie Benjamin. In Mistress of the Ritz, Benjamin brings wartime Paris brilliantly to life. . . . Intense, illuminating, and ultimately inspiring! Elizabeth Letts, New York Times bestselling author of Finding Dorothy
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Chapter 1Blanche,
June 1940
Her shoes.
It s her shoes that worry her, if that can be believed. Of all the things this woman should be concerned about on this horrific day, it s her shoes.
But in her defense, given who she is and where she is headed, her shoes are a problem. They re filthy, caked with dried mud, the heels worn down. And all she can think about, as her husband helps her off the train, is how Coco Chanel, that bitch, will react when she sees her. How they ll all react when she shows up at the Ritz with filthy, worn-down shoes, her ripped stockings practically disintegrating on her shapely calves. While she can t do anything about her stockings even Blanche Auzello would never dream of changing her stockings in public she is desperate to find a bench so that she can rummage through her suitcases and find another pair of shoes. But before she can speak this wish, she and her husband are swept up in the wave of bewildered well, what the hell are they now? French? German? Refugees? who are flooding out of the Gare du Nord, eager, terrified, to see what has become of Paris in their absence.
Blanche and her husband are part of the great unwashed; dirt and cinders have coagulated in pockets of perspiration beneath their chins, behind their ears, their knees, in the crevasses of their elbows. Greasy faces streaked with soot. They haven t changed clothes in days; Claude packed away his captain s uniform before they left his garrison. To be worn again, he assured Blanche or more likely, she suspected, himself. When we fight back. As we most certainly will.
But no one knows when, or if, that time will come. Now that the Germans have taken France.
Outside, the pair finally push their way out of the crowd so that they can catch their breath, try to corral all the luggage that is slipping out of their hands; when they packed, nine months ago, they had no idea how long they d be away. Automatically, they look for a taxi in the usual
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line outside the station entrance, but there are none; there are no cars at all, only one lone cart, hitched to the saddest horse Blanche has ever seen.
Claude glances at the horse, takes in its heavy breathing, the foam dribbling from its mouth, ribs so defined it s as if the flesh has been carved, and shakes his head. That animal will never see another morning.
You! Blanche marches over to the man sitting on the cart, a man with small eyes and a gap-toothed smile.
Yes, Madame? Ten francs. Ten, and I take you anywhere in Paris! I have the only horse and cart within twenty kilometers!
You unharness that horse right now. You bastard, that horse is about to collapse, can t you see? He needs to be stabled, fed.
Crazy bitch, the man mutters, then sighs and gestures toward the street, teeming with humans on foot. Don t you understand? The Nazis took every healthy animal when they came. This nag is all I have to make a living.
I don t care. I ll pay you twenty francs if you just let this animal lie down for a while.
If he lies down, he won t get up again. The man glances at the poor animal swaying on its crooked legs, then shrugs. I figure I have three, maybe four jobs left, and then he s done. And so am I.
I ll do it myself, you
But Claude has reached his wife and dragged her away, even as she still lunges toward the hapless horse and his owner.
Shh, Blanche, shh. Stop. We need to go. You can t save every broken thing in Paris, my love. Especially not now.
Try and stop me! But she does allow her husband t
Claude glances at the horse, takes in its heavy breathing, the foam dribbling from its mouth, ribs so defined it s as if the flesh has been carved, and shakes his head. That animal will never see another morning.
You! Blanche marches over to the man sitting on the cart, a man with small eyes and a gap-toothed smile.
Yes, Madame? Ten francs. Ten, and I take you anywhere in Paris! I have the only horse and cart within twenty kilometers!
You unharness that horse right now. You bastard, that horse is about to collapse, can t you see? He needs to be stabled, fed.
Crazy bitch, the man mutters, then sighs and gestures toward the street, teeming with humans on foot. Don t you understand? The Nazis took every healthy animal when they came. This nag is all I have to make a living.
I don t care. I ll pay you twenty francs if you just let this animal lie down for a while.
If he lies down, he won t get up again. The man glances at the poor animal swaying on its crooked legs, then shrugs. I figure I have three, maybe four jobs left, and then he s done. And so am I.
I ll do it myself, you
But Claude has reached his wife and dragged her away, even as she still lunges toward the hapless horse and his owner.
Shh, Blanche, shh. Stop. We need to go. You can t save every broken thing in Paris, my love. Especially not now.
Try and stop me! But she does allow her husband t
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Autoren-Porträt von Melanie Benjamin
Melanie Benjamin is the New York Times bestselling author of The Children s Blizzard, Mistress of the Ritz, The Girls in the Picture, The Swans of Fifth Avenue, The Aviator's Wife, The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, and Alice I Have Been. Benjamin lives in Chicago, Illinois, where she is at work on her next historical novel.
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Melanie Benjamin
- 2020, 400 Seiten, Maße: 13,3 x 20,3 cm, Kartoniert (TB), Englisch
- Verlag: Bantam
- ISBN-10: 0399182268
- ISBN-13: 9780399182266
- Erscheinungsdatum: 10.10.2020
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
A compelling portrait of a marriage and a nation at war from within . . . At the glittering height of the twenties and thirties, suave French hotel manager Claude Auzello has turned the Ritz into the jewel of Paris, installing his brash American wife, Blanche, as queen among the movie stars, fashion icons, and crowned heads who make up the hotel guests. But the Auzello marriage is rocked by infidelity and turmoil even as the Nazi shadow rises in Germany, and when the Ritz becomes Third Reich headquarters in occupied Paris, France s ultimate power couple must decide if they will weather the storm together or crumble under the oppression and brutality of war. High fashion, royal gossip, political scheming, and French Resistance sabotage all swirl together to make Mistress of the Ritz a cocktail as irresistible as anything served at the hotel s bar! Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice NetworkNo one writes of the complexities of women s lives and loves like Melanie Benjamin. In Mistress of the Ritz, Benjamin brings wartime Paris brilliantly to life and brings home the terrible dilemmas and moral conundrums forced upon occupied citizens by the war. Blanche Auzello is a martini-soaked flapper with a heart of steel. Benjamin s fascinating story brings this forgotten heroine vividly to life without flinching from the high price paid by those who fought back against the Nazi scourge. Intense, illuminating, and ultimately inspiring! Elizabeth Letts, New York Times bestselling author of Finding Dorothy
In Mistress of the Ritz, Melanie Benjamin illuminates the little-known story of Blanche Auzello, the fiery American who, along with her French husband, secretly worked for the French Resistance while hosting senior German officials at their storied hotel. This meticulously researched and richly told story could only have been penned by Melanie
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Benjamin already an icon of historical fiction, she has truly outdone herself. Important and inspiring! Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Girls of Paris
This impeccably researched, lyrically told historical about a brash American woman and her French husband during WWII is a remarkable achievement. . . . Benjamin skillfully weaves in a host of historical figures including Coco Chanel, alleged to be a Nazi sympathizer, and Ernest Hemingway whose vibrant presences make Benjamin s protagonists and engaging group of supporting characters shine all the more. Even readers who aren t big fans of historical fiction might be swayed by this outstanding tale. Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Benjamin s new novel is a lively portrait of the opulent grand hotel which drew Picasso, Hemingway, Cole Porter and Hermann Göring. Kirkus Reviews
This impeccably researched, lyrically told historical about a brash American woman and her French husband during WWII is a remarkable achievement. . . . Benjamin skillfully weaves in a host of historical figures including Coco Chanel, alleged to be a Nazi sympathizer, and Ernest Hemingway whose vibrant presences make Benjamin s protagonists and engaging group of supporting characters shine all the more. Even readers who aren t big fans of historical fiction might be swayed by this outstanding tale. Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Benjamin s new novel is a lively portrait of the opulent grand hotel which drew Picasso, Hemingway, Cole Porter and Hermann Göring. Kirkus Reviews
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