{"product_id":"mistress-of-paris-book-catherine-hewitt-9781250120663","title":"The Mistress of Paris","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCatherine Hewitt's \u003ci\u003eThe Mistress of Paris\u003c\/i\u003e is a fantastically readable biography of a nineteenth-century Parisian courtesan who harbored an incredible secret.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA gorgeous, smart, ambitious, hard-working, steely autodidact and businesswoman whose product was herself, Valtesse would be totally at home in our self-branding society.\u003cb\u003e --\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eComtesse Valtesse de la Bigne was painted by  douard Manet and inspired  mile Zola, who immortalized her in his scandalous novel \u003ci\u003eNana\u003c\/i\u003e. Her rumored affairs with Napoleon I and the future King Edward VI kept gossip columns full. But her glamorous existence hid a dark secret: she was no comtesse. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eValtesse was born into abject poverty, raised on a squalid backstreet among the dregs of Parisian society. Yet she transformed herself into an enchantress who possessed a small fortune, three mansions, fabulous carriages, and art the envy of connoisseurs across Europe. A consummate show-woman, she ensured that her life--and even her death--remained shrouded in just enough mystery to keep her audience hungry for more.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpectacularly evoking the sights and sounds of mid- to late nineteenth-century Paris in all its hedonistic glory, Catherine Hewitt's biography tells, for the first time ever in English, the forgotten story of a remarkable woman who, though her roots were lowly, never stopped aiming high.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49519318040849,"sku":"GOR010836008","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50404737319185,"sku":"CIN1250120667VG","price":4.58,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51163710128401,"sku":"CIN1250120667G","price":5.18,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1250120667.jpg?v=1751049543","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/mistress-of-paris-book-catherine-hewitt-9781250120663","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}