She, Edmonde

Original title: Elle, Edmonde

Publication Date:

January 2017

Pages:

222

Original language and publisher

French | Allary Editions

Territories Handled

Worldwide excl. French

Genres

Biography, Narrative Non-Fiction

She, Edmonde

Original title: Elle, Edmonde

Synopsis

A brilliant essay, well written, “a keychain” that opens many doors, both official and intimate, of a life that really deserves to be called novelistic. Le Journal du Dimanche

A chant of admiration, without any ounce of reserve, so good that we are not far from a hagiography, despite the fact that the author finds some defects in its impressive model. La Provence

Jean-Noël Liaut is an experienced biographer. He has the curiosity, the humor and the passion of his deeply-rooted characters, and a sense of composition. Irresistible. — Version Femina

With the brilliant writing of Jean-Noël Liaut, Edmonde becomes a Stendhalian heroine. — L’Obs

A vibrant tribute. — Vogue

A portrait which gives the flavour of a literary woman with multiple facets. — Le Figaro Littéraire

A year ago Edmonde Charles-Roux passed away. This is the first biography of this woman with a thousand lives.

Edmonde Charles-Roux. A member of the resistance, lover, successful author, fashion icon, socialist, president of the Goncourt academy, muse to a rap band. A woman who lived a thousand lives: passionate and politically engaged, devilishly novelesque.

Born in 1920, her father was the ambassador to the Holy See in Rome and she grew up in Italian palaces among artists, princes and popes. She seemed destined for a respectable life. But in 1940 she became an ambulance nurse, before joining the resistance. A corporal in the Foreign legion, she was awarded the Croix de Guerre when liberation came, then became a journalist for Elle and revolutionised Vogue. When her first novel won the prix Goncourt, de Gaulle told her: “Madame, you vote badly but you write well.”

A bourgeois woman drawn to marginalised people, she became the muse to famous writers, painters and avant-garde photographers. She was also a feminist who was not afraid of men. With Gaston Deferre, the flamboyant mayor of Marseille, Minister of the Interior under Mitterrand, she formed a legendary couple that navigated between the luxuries of the political class and the world of the workers.

Rebellious, brave, full of desire, talent and contradiction, Edmonde was nothing less than a free woman.

Marketing Information

  • Over 7,000 copies sold