The First Actress: A Novel of Sarah Bernhardt

The First Actress: A Novel of Sarah Bernhardt by C. W. Gortner   432 pages

You’ve heard me say it before: One of the reasons that I love historical fiction so much is that it introduces me to people and events I don’t know much about, or have no knowledge whatsoever.  The former is the category that this historical, biographical fiction work falls into for me. 

I knew that she was an infamous late 19^th and early 20^th centuries French stage actress whose talents glowed in plays by Alexandre Dumas (the father and the son), Victor Hugo and Victorien Sardou…to name only a few.  I knew that she had been dubbed the “Divine Sarah” for acting talents and made several tours of the United States. She was hit each and every time.

This book takes place before Sarah became a sensation in America.  She was the illegitimate daughter of one of Paris’ most sought after courtesans, Julie Bernhardt. While her father did not recognize her as his daughter, he did provide for her education---a rarity in those days.  She attended a boarding school and a convent school.

Although encouraged by her mother, Sarah had no desire to follow in her mother’s footsteps. She had a long string of lovers, but she was a woman who took care of herself.  Even when she, herself, became an unwed mother and the father didn’t help, she raised her son alone, with some help from family and friends.

Sarah also took control of her career. Sometimes she made mistakes in the parts she accepted. It was amazing to watch her encounter obstacles and overcame the majority of them,

Sarah had a few surprises in her that I found quite eccentric.  She had a full-sized dead bat that she wore as a lapel pin or as an adornment for her hat.  And she was rumored to sleep in a coffin, and traveled with it. 

Told for Sarah’s point of view, this highly researched and well written novel is a must read for those who enjoy reading about strong women.  “The First Actress: A Novel of Sarah Bernhardt” receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

 

A Paris Apartment

A Paris Apartment by Michelle Gable            378 pages

Paris, 1940. A young woman fleeing the Nazis shutters her grandmother's apartment and escapes to the French countryside.

 New York, 2010. A Sotheby's furniture appraiser, April Vogt, is sent to Paris to aid in the appraisal of an apartment in the ninth arrondissement that has not been disturbed in 70 years. April is more than happy to escape the recent conflicts in her marriage. Immediately upon arrival at the apartment, April is overwhelmed by the exquisite furnishings, especially a previously unknown portrait of a lady in pink by Giovanni Boldani. Luckily for April, she also finds a journal that provides provenance for the pieces and yet tells a fascinating story.

The story is the rags-to-riches climb of one of Paris’ most famous courtesans, Marthe de Florian, which occurred in the last 1800s and early 1900s. A postcard that the author had tucked into my copy says she received the inspiration for Marthe’s story based on a news clipping that a friend had sent her. Turns out Marthe is a real person, and the story of the abandoned apartment unopened for more than half a century is true, which to me, made it all the more fascinating.

Gable's debut is novel is a wonderful mix of past and present, weaving between Marthe’s journal and April's adventures, as April mixes business with a possible romance, yet still wondering what she has left in New York. I loved this story and could barely pull myself away from it. I'm already looking forward to Gable's next novel.

I give A Paris Apartment five out of five stars.

Click here to see pics from Marthe's Paris apartment: https://www.google.com/search?q=marthe+de+florian+apartment&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=5EnAU_PBIMq2yASYq4GwCg&ved=0CBwQsAQ&biw=1131&bih=767