Mademoiselle Chanel
Page 40
Ironically, Coco’s relationship with Pierre Wertheimer lasted until her death. Upon his return to France after the war, he resumed control of her perfume company, leading to a series of legal entanglements that ended in 1947 when he reached a settlement with Coco that made her extraordinarily wealthy. Pierre would go on to become one of her trusted managers, financiers, and confidants despite frequent discord between them.
Following her 1954 collection, Coco went on to design several more, often updating her signature looks. Restored to international acclaim, she entertained friends and celebrity clients, as well as several lovers, defying all expectations of retirement until her death on Sunday, January 10, 1971, in her residential suite at the Ritz. She was eighty-seven. She left the world without apology, sighing, “So, that’s the way one dies.”
She was laid to rest in the cemetery of Lausanne, Switzerland, under a marble headstone bearing five lion heads, her zodiac sign and her talisman number forever linked. No other designer has left such a lasting impression on the fashion landscape or in our popular imagination.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This novel, perhaps more than any other I have written, was truly a labor of love. Chanel first entranced me in my teenage years when my burgeoning interest in fashion led me to pursue a career in it. I hoped to become a designer myself, but soon discovered during my education at the San Francisco Institute for Design and Merchandising that many around me had far greater talent. I switched my major to marketing and embarked on a twelve-year profession that took me from San Francisco to New York and back again, working as a retail buyer, freelance publicist, vintage-store manager, and fashion show coordinator for avant-garde couturiers.
My fascination with fashion and the personalities who create it has never abated, though I ceased working in the industry in the mid-1980s. Thus, the opportunity to write a novel about the legendary Coco Chanel, whose tumultuous rise to fame and dramatic personal trajectory left such an indelible mark on both her era and those that followed, was a dream come true.
I owe the fulfillment of this dream to many people, starting with my friend Melisse, who first encouraged me to set aside my sixteenth-century obsession for a career risk. My agent, Jennifer Weltz, applauded my new venture and steered me through the inevitable shoals of change that often accompany a writing departure. My editor, Rachel Kahan, took an enthusiastic chance, fulfilling another long-held dream of mine to work with her, and her publishing team at William Morrow welcomed me with incredible expertise. I cannot express how grateful I am.
My husband supports me in all my endeavors, sustaining me through hours of solitary confinement at my desk and the highs and lows of being a working writer, as well as in our daily life, where I can, I must confess, be less than attentive when the muse is upon me. My cats, Boy and Mommy, bring us unrequited love every day, as well as reminders that there is life beyond the computer. Friends near and far, such as Sarah Johnson, Linda Dolan, Michelle Moran, Robin Maxwell, Margaret George, and Donna Russo-Morin, restrain me from becoming a recluse, as do my yoga instructors at Excelsior Yoga, who keep me nimble. I greatly appreciate all my Facebook friends and fans for their humor and support, as well as my Web mistress, Rae Monet.
Most of all, I thank you, my reader, for I simply could not do this without you.
You give my words heart.
SAN FRANCISCO
AUGUST 19, 2013–JANUARY 9, 2014
SOURCES
Many sources assisted me in discovering Coco’s intimate life. She remains controversial and mysterious to this day, as adept at obscuring the truth in death as she was in life, but every book about her fits another piece into her enigmatic puzzle. I relied most heavily on the following volumes. Please note that this annotated list does not represent a full bibliography:
Baillen, Claude. Chanel Solitaire. New York: Quadrangle, 1974.
Chaney, Lisa. Coco Chanel: An Intimate Life. New York: Viking, 2011.
Charles-Roux, Edmonde. Chanel. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1975.
Galante, Pierre. Mademoiselle Chanel. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1973.
Haedrich, Marcel. Coco Chanel: Her Life, Her Secrets. New York: Little Brown, 1971.
Haye, Amy de la. Chanel. London: V&A Publishing, 2011.
Lifar, Serge. Ma Vie. New York: World Publishing Company, 1970.
Madsen, Axel. Chanel: A Woman on Her Own. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1990.
Mazzeo, Tilar J. The Secret of Chanel No. 5. New York: HarperCollins, 2010.
. The Hotel on the Place Vendôme. New York: HarperCollins, 2014.
Morand, Paul. The Allure of Chanel. London: Pushkin Press, 2009.
Picardie, Justine. Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life. London: HarperCollins, 2011.
Riding, Alan. And the Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi-Occupied Paris. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.
Vaughan, Hal. Sleeping with the Enemy. London: Chatto & Windus, 2011.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photograph by Stephanie Mohan
A former fashion executive, C. W. GORTNER is a lifelong admirer of Coco Chanel. His passion for writing led him to give up fashion, and his many historical novels have been bestsellers, published in over twenty countries. He lives in San Francisco.
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ALSO BY C. W. GORTNER
The Tudor Vendetta
The Tudor Conspiracy
The Queen’s Vow
The Tudor Secret
The Confessions of Catherine de Medici
The Last Queen
CREDITS
COVER DESIGN BY MUMTAZ MUSTAFA
COVER PHOTOGRAPH © BY GEORGE HOYNINGEN-HUENE
COPYRIGHT
This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used fictitiously. All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue, are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.
MADEMOISELLE CHANEL. Copyright © 2015 by C. W. Gortner. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books
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