Chanel's Riviera
Glamour, Decadence, and Survival in Peace and War, 1930-1944
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Narrated by:
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Sophie Roberts
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By:
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Anne de Courcy
About this listen
"Narrator Sophie Roberts' strong, polished, highly sophisticated voice effectively conveys the aura of fashionable society but maintains a firm narrative objectivity. Droll, fascinating, full of memorable characters and anecdotes, here is a perspective on a world and time that moved from drawing-room comedy to the private dramas of war and occupation." (AudioFile magazine, Earphones Award winner)
In this captivating narrative, Chanel's Riviera explores the fascinating world of the Cote d'Azur during a period that saw the deepest extremes of luxury and terror in the twentieth century.
The Cote d'Azur in 1938 was a world of wealth, luxury, and extravagance, inhabited by a sparkling cast of characters including the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Joseph P. Kennedy, Gloria Swanson, Colette, the Mitfords, Picasso, Cecil Beaton, and Somerset Maugham. The elite flocked to the Riviera each year to swim, gamble, and escape from the turbulence plaguing the rest of Europe. At the glittering center of it all was Coco Chanel, whose very presence at her magnificently appointed villa, La Pausa, made it the ultimate place to be. Born an orphan, her beauty and formidable intelligence allured many men, but it was her incredible talent, relentless work ethic, and exquisite taste that made her an icon.
But this wildly seductive world was poised on the edge of destruction. In a matter of months, the Nazis swooped down and the glamour of the pre-war parties and casinos gave way to the horrors of evacuation and the displacement of thousands of families during World War II. From the bitter struggle to survive emerged powerful stories of tragedy, sacrifice, and heroism.
Enriched by original research and de Courcy’s signature skill, Chanel's Riviera brings the experiences of both rich and poor, protected and persecuted, to vivid life.A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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In 1942, in a quiet village in the leafy English Cotswolds, a thin, elegant woman lived in a small cottage with her three children and her husband, who worked as a machinist nearby. Ursula Burton was friendly but reserved, and spoke English with a slight foreign accent. By all accounts, she seemed to be living a simple, unassuming life. Her neighbors in the village knew little about her. They didn’t know that she was a high-ranking Soviet intelligence officer. They didn’t know that her husband was also a spy, or that she was running powerful agents across Europe.
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Wanted to love it
- By Robert Bell on 09-30-20
By: Ben Macintyre
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The Last Jews in Berlin
- By: Leonard Gross
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, approximately 160,000 Jews called Berlin home. By 1943 less than 5,000 remained in the nation's capital, the epicenter of Nazism, and by the end of the war, that number had dwindled to 1,000. All the others had died in air raids, starved to death, committed suicide, or been shipped off to the death camps. In this captivating and harrowing book, Leonard Gross details the real-life stories of a dozen Jewish men and women who spent the final 27 months of World War II underground, hiding in plain sight.
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Very good WWll Jewish lives in Berlin
- By it.is grat!' on 10-30-24
By: Leonard Gross
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My Name Is Selma
- The Remarkable Memoir of a Jewish Resistance Fighter and Ravensbrück Survivor
- By: Selma van de Perre
- Narrated by: Rachel Bavidge
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Selma van de Perre was 17 when World War II began. Until then, being Jewish in the Netherlands had not been an issue. But by 1941 it had become a matter of life or death. On several occasions, Selma barely avoided being rounded up by the Nazis. While her father was summoned to a work camp and eventually hospitalized in a Dutch transition camp, her mother and sister went into hiding - until they were betrayed in June 1943 and sent to Auschwitz.
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Remarkable
- By slp 4 me on 05-11-21
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Nancy Wake
- World War Two's Most Rebellious Spy
- By: Russell Braddon
- Narrated by: Nico Evers-Swindell
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the incredible true story of the greatest spy you’ve never heard of - as told to the author by the woman herself. At the outbreak of World War Two, Nancy Wake’s glamorous life in the South of France seemed far removed from the fighting. But when her husband was called up for military service, Nancy felt she had just as much of a duty to fight for freedom. By 1943, her fearless undercover work even in the face of personal tragedy had earned her a place on the Gestapo’s "most wanted" list.
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One incredible woman!
- By Amazon Customer on 02-26-21
By: Russell Braddon
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The Dressmakers of Auschwitz
- The True Story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive
- By: Lucy Adlington
- Narrated by: Lucy Adlington
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
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At the height of the Holocaust, 25 young inmates of the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp - mainly Jewish women and girls - were selected to design, cut, and sew beautiful fashions for elite Nazi women in a dedicated salon. It was work that they hoped would spare them from the gas chambers. This fashion workshop - called the Upper Tailoring Studio - was established by Hedwig Höss, the camp commandant’s wife, and patronized by the wives of SS guards and officers.
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Not what I expected given description and preview
- By Kaeli Mathes on 09-24-21
By: Lucy Adlington
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The Hotel on Place Vendome
- Life, Death, and Betrayal at the Hotel Ritz in Paris
- By: Tilar J. Mazzeo
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Set against the backdrop of the Nazi occupation of World War II, The Hôtel on Place Vendôme is the captivating history of Paris' world-famous Hôtel Ritz - a breathtaking tale of glamour, opulence, and celebrity and of dangerous liaisons, espionage, and resistance.
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Title doesn’t represent
- By JAS on 02-17-19
By: Tilar J. Mazzeo
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The Wolves at the Door
- The True Story of America's Greatest Female Spy
- By: Judith Pearson
- Narrated by: Patrice O’Neill
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Virginia Hall left her comfortable Baltimore roots in 1931 to follow a dream of becoming a Foreign Service Officer. After watching Hitler roll over Poland and France, she enlisted to work for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), a secret espionage and sabotage organization. She was soon deployed to occupied France where, if captured, imprisonment and torture at the hands of the Gestapo was all but assured.
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The narrator is ruining the book for me
- By Penni Khandi on 06-19-14
By: Judith Pearson
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The Princess Spy
- The True Story of World War II Spy Aline Griffith, Countess of Romanones
- By: Larry Loftis
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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When Aline Griffith was born in a quiet suburban New York hamlet, no one had any idea that she would go on to live “a life of glamour and danger that Ingrid Bergman only played at in Notorious” (Time). As the United States enters the Second World War, the young college graduate is desperate to aid in the war effort, but no one is interested in a bright-eyed young woman whose only career experience is modeling clothes.
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Repeat of spy wore red
- By Theresa Pease on 02-18-21
By: Larry Loftis
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The Art of Resistance
- My Four Years in the French Underground: A Memoir
- By: Justus Rosenberg
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1937, as the Nazis gained control and anti-Semitism spread in the Free City of Danzig, a majority German city on the Baltic Sea, 16-year-old Justus Rosenberg was sent to Paris to finish his education in safety. Three years later, France fell to the Germans. Alone and in danger, penniless and cut off from contact with his family in Poland, Justus fled south.
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Rosenberg, Please focus
- By Jess on 03-20-22
By: Justus Rosenberg
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Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister
- Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China
- By: Jung Chang
- Narrated by: Catherine Ho
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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They were the most famous sisters in China. As the country battled through 100 years of wars, revolutions, and seismic transformations, the three Soong sisters from Shanghai were at the center of power, and each of them left an indelible mark on history. All three sisters enjoyed tremendous privilege and glory, but also endured constant mortal danger. They showed great courage and experienced passionate love, as well as despair and heartbreak.
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Fascinating reading
- By David L. Jones on 03-26-20
By: Jung Chang
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The Riviera Set
- Glitz, Glamour, and the Hidden World of High Society
- By: Mary S. Lovell
- Narrated by: Jill Rolls
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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The Riviera Set reveals the story of the group of people who lived, partied, bed-hopped, and politicked at the Château de l'Horizon near Cannes, over the course of 40 years from the time when Coco Chanel made southern French tans fashionable in the twenties to the death of the playboy Prince Aly Khan in 1960. At the heart of dynamic group was the amazing Maxine Elliott, the daughter of a fisherman from Connecticut, who built the beautiful art deco Château.
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Riviera Set
- By Lois Kelly on 05-04-18
By: Mary S. Lovell
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Last Boat Out of Shanghai
- The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution
- By: Helen Zia
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 17 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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The dramatic real-life stories of four young people caught up in the mass exodus of Shanghai in the wake of China's 1949 Communist revolution. Benny must decide either to escape to Hong Kong or navigate the intricacies of a newly Communist China. Annuo, forced to flee with her father, a defeated Nationalist official, becomes an unwelcome exile in Taiwan. The financially strapped Ho fights deportation from the US in order to continue his studies while his family struggles at home. Bing, given away by her poor parents, faces the prospect of a new life among strangers in America.
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Great book, poor performance
- By Helpful Buyer on 07-02-19
By: Helen Zia
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Fall
- The Mysterious Life and Death of Robert Maxwell, Britain's Most Notorious Media Baron
- By: John Preston
- Narrated by: Simon Bubb
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In February 1991, Robert Maxwell triumphantly sailed into Manhattan harbor on his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, to buy the ailing New York Daily News. Taxi drivers stopped their cabs to shake his hand, children asked for his autograph, and patrons of the hottest restaurant in Manhattan gave him a standing ovation while he dined. Ten months later, Maxwell disappeared off that same yacht in the middle of the night and was later found dead in the water. As John Preston reveals in this revealing biography, Maxwell’s death was as mysterious as his remarkable life.
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Don't make men like this anymore
- By Sylvia on 04-06-21
By: John Preston
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The Correspondents
- Six Women Writers on the Front Lines of World War II
- By: Judith Mackrell
- Narrated by: Julie Teal
- Length: 17 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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On the front lines of the Second World War, a contingent of female journalists were bravely waging their own battle. Barred from combat zones and faced with entrenched prejudice and bureaucratic restrictions, these women were forced to fight for the right to work on equal terms with men.
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Narration was nails on a chalkboard
- By aunt deb on 12-20-21
By: Judith Mackrell
What listeners say about Chanel's Riviera
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Cinema Buff
- 08-21-23
Riveting and hunting writing and reading
Excellent vivid description of the life in the French Riviera as the backdrop for Chanel’s life. Good reader with perfect timing diction and voice. Highly recommend
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- Dr. Barbara Paige
- 09-18-24
A good social history of the Riviera set
An interesting read about vacuous people with too much money and too little morals. A balanced account of Chanel who had a difficult childhood and how she succeeded with her talents and the help of the men in her life. The descriptions of life during WWII were harrowing and explained her actions. Was she a spy for the Germans? Again a balanced view of what was necessary to survive. I did not enjoy the narrator-talked too fast and would tell a story only to end it with a phrase in French so, not understanding the language, the reader lost the point Frustrating!
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- SuzRos
- 03-15-24
Great, if you know how to speak French....
A good historical story, but so many French phrases are peppered throughout the book (without translation!) that it left me wondering what I was missing!
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2 people found this helpful
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- Chris Christiano
- 10-17-21
Perfect blend of positive narrative with horrible backdrop
The Nazi period presents such brutality and amoral acts, it is challenging for the author to inject positive behaviors in its midst. I would have put the book down if not for such adroit writing. Is it possible for us to accept another amoral autocrat who seeks revenge in our own country? The abuse of women continues today. Powerful achievement by author.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Margarette P.
- 05-30-22
Great book but narrator impossible to listen to.
Great story and book Written wonderfully
However due to very pretencious voice of a narrator I can’t listen to it.
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- Leslie
- 01-10-21
Famous people, juicy gossip, great history!
This book is such fun! Though the narrative describes only a period of Coco Chanel's life, there is so much happening around her during that time, and so many people involved, that it becomes a complete and thorough story in itself. There is background about Chanel and references to her career in fashion as that relates to the time and place of the narrative, which takes place at a time before the Riviera became a playground exclusively for the rich and famous. There are plenty of rich and famous in this story, but this is when the Riviera had little fishing villages, modest homes, and a population of British who'd been there for years. A totally enjoyable read with many fun facts, and wild characters.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Rach
- 08-24-24
I learned so much about the occupation of France under nazis
I loved how channel dropped off as an orphan survived in WW2 to survive she was an amazing woman
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- HistoryNerd
- 02-21-20
A Bit Misleading...
I was super excited to “read” this one as I really enjoyed de Courcy’s “The Husband Hunters”. The description of this book sounded fascinating. It was interesting but not what I expected. A good 75% of the novel was about World War II. While the Riviera was discussed in this context, it was more about France during the war with occasional check-ins with Chanel and her circle. The book details a host of characters, all interesting but it was hard to keep everyone straight, particularly as the years progressed. DeCourcy’s commitment to first hand accounts is impressive but in the end, I feel like I didn’t get what I thought I was getting, and was left wanting to know more about the Riviera.
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13 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 02-24-20
Excellent
Kept me interested,could not stop listening. I will recommend,and play again one of my favorites!!!
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3 people found this helpful
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- kellylovesodie
- 10-14-21
Perhaps not best enjoyed in audio format
This is an impeccably researched and VERY sprawling book, so audio may not be the best way to consume this book. I ended up ordering a paperback copy of the book because my French is marginal and there are hundreds of untranslated French phrases included, whose meaning I wanted to know. The bits where the author opines specifically about Chanel's allegiances were uncomfortably "both sidesy" and irritatingly sympathetic to Chanel. Otherwise, it was an unexpected way for me to brush up on French WWII history.
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2 people found this helpful