Grandes Horizontales: The Lives and Legends of Four Nineteenth-Century Courtesans [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

There is a lot of bizarre speculation on the author's part: the courtesan La Paiva, born to a Jewish family in Russia, may or may not have been baptized at age seven. Rounding doubts the baptism because the book she read it in is not a very accurate one. Nevertheless, she continues on, speculating about the REASON for this possible event, but offers no hard evidence for her speculation. Apollonie Sabatier may or may not have slept with Baudelaire; Rounding speculates on why the "possible" affair ended. At this I threw up my hands: the book is full of such idle speculations about the reasons behind events that only possibly occured.

To me, the real fascination behind these women was "why these women and not others;" what was the magnetic attraction that held men spellbound? Rounding has made a very readable book, but we are still waiting for a more energetic scholar to write one that really answers this question.

The courtesans targets were the wealthy princely and aristocratic men of high society that valued a beautiful mistress on the arm as adding a new Old Master painting to the collection or finishing an elegant dinner with a cognac and cigar. These constituted the requisite luxuries for an aristocratic gentlemen when money was no object in glittery and superficial 19th Century Paris. For the courtesan, the circle of clients was amused and nurtured but only so long as the money flowed unabated. Once the money failed so would the relationship. The courtesan had no interest in assuming a wifely role to raise children in the heavily male dominated family arrangement. The courtesan 'broke' from her old life by adopting 'new' names to demarcate once existence from the other. The sole exception to these arrangements was for the 'true love'. These were usually younger and less well-off admirers that loved these women for who they were and not as fashion accessories. The relationship with the true love continued but so long as the young man understood his place, long term expectations, and tolerated to be 'squeezed' into a busy schedule.

The downfall for the courtesan was a complete lack of control over spending. Once exquisite taste was acquired in furnishings, dresses, carriages, horses, food and living conditions, the money was spent as fast as it came in. Marie Duplessis had her goods sold at auction to pay off the debtors after she died very young from tuberculosis at 23. Her true love, Alexandre Dumas 'fils', preserved her legend with his play entitled, 'La Dame aux Camelias'. At the other extreme, Cora Pearl lived a long life and wrote her memoirs to raise her own legend for posterity.

In the end, each of the courtesans shared an audacious appetite for life and a strong thirst for independence that led them to build lives unshackled by the traditional male dominated family. Virgina Rounding has written a highly entertaining, digestible, and informative book on some of the most colorful personalities of glittery 19th Century France during the decadance of Napoleon III.