Author: Faith Mortimer
Publisher: Topsails Charter
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 185
Book Description
Take two very different cultures, separated by a narrow strip of water. Can love bridge the divide? When Margaret discovers her fiancé is cheating on her, she leaves England in search of a new life and a new dream. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Margaret is determined to put romance out of her life and avoid forming personal ties. On the beautiful south coast of France, Margaret lands herself with a plum job and is happy to forget her worthless old flame. Things are looking up, until a series of events draw her into meeting handsome Frenchman Jean-Paul. Despite her reservations, Margaret begins to let down her guard with inevitable consequence. Margaret falls deeply in love, but struggles with her conscious after discovering Jean-Paul is married. Despite his declaration of a loveless marriage, should Margaret continue with her new affair? Her old life haunts and scares her…Should she choose a secure, safe life, immersed in her work, or one filled with passion and excitement with the sexy Frenchman? In her darkest hours, can she trust him with her heart?... Has she found a safe haven? Or is she poised on the brink of the abyss…
A Very French Affair
Author: Faith Mortimer
Publisher: Topsails Charter
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 185
Book Description
Take two very different cultures, separated by a narrow strip of water. Can love bridge the divide? When Margaret discovers her fiancé is cheating on her, she leaves England in search of a new life and a new dream. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Margaret is determined to put romance out of her life and avoid forming personal ties. On the beautiful south coast of France, Margaret lands herself with a plum job and is happy to forget her worthless old flame. Things are looking up, until a series of events draw her into meeting handsome Frenchman Jean-Paul. Despite her reservations, Margaret begins to let down her guard with inevitable consequence. Margaret falls deeply in love, but struggles with her conscious after discovering Jean-Paul is married. Despite his declaration of a loveless marriage, should Margaret continue with her new affair? Her old life haunts and scares her…Should she choose a secure, safe life, immersed in her work, or one filled with passion and excitement with the sexy Frenchman? In her darkest hours, can she trust him with her heart?... Has she found a safe haven? Or is she poised on the brink of the abyss…
Publisher: Topsails Charter
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 185
Book Description
Take two very different cultures, separated by a narrow strip of water. Can love bridge the divide? When Margaret discovers her fiancé is cheating on her, she leaves England in search of a new life and a new dream. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Margaret is determined to put romance out of her life and avoid forming personal ties. On the beautiful south coast of France, Margaret lands herself with a plum job and is happy to forget her worthless old flame. Things are looking up, until a series of events draw her into meeting handsome Frenchman Jean-Paul. Despite her reservations, Margaret begins to let down her guard with inevitable consequence. Margaret falls deeply in love, but struggles with her conscious after discovering Jean-Paul is married. Despite his declaration of a loveless marriage, should Margaret continue with her new affair? Her old life haunts and scares her…Should she choose a secure, safe life, immersed in her work, or one filled with passion and excitement with the sexy Frenchman? In her darkest hours, can she trust him with her heart?... Has she found a safe haven? Or is she poised on the brink of the abyss…
A French Affair
Author: Katie Fforde
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0099539195
Category : Inheritance and succession
Languages : en
Pages : 436
Book Description
A wonderfully romantic novel from the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Recipe for Love, A French Affair and The Perfect Match. Gina and Sally Makepiece have inherited a stall in the French House - an antiques centre nestled in the heart of the English countryside. Gina is determined to drag the French House and its grumpy owner into the twenty-first century. Bearing all the attributes of a modern-day Mr Rochester, Matthew Ballinger is less than happy with the whirlwind that has arrived on his doorstep. The last thing either of them want is to fall in love. But will a trip to France change their minds?
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0099539195
Category : Inheritance and succession
Languages : en
Pages : 436
Book Description
A wonderfully romantic novel from the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Recipe for Love, A French Affair and The Perfect Match. Gina and Sally Makepiece have inherited a stall in the French House - an antiques centre nestled in the heart of the English countryside. Gina is determined to drag the French House and its grumpy owner into the twenty-first century. Bearing all the attributes of a modern-day Mr Rochester, Matthew Ballinger is less than happy with the whirlwind that has arrived on his doorstep. The last thing either of them want is to fall in love. But will a trip to France change their minds?
My French Affair
Author: Amanda Taylor-Ace
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited
ISBN: 1869797817
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 262
Book Description
A lively, inspiring account of a New Zealand woman's decision to create a new life in the south of France. Amanda Taylor-Ace's philosophy is 'joie de vivre unlimited' - living life with unlimited joy. So when her 14-year-old son fell in with a bad crowd and her life in Auckland needed a shake-up, she packed their bags and took him to France for a year. My French Affair is the story of how and why she decided to stay. Not content with simply living in France, she decided to renovate two eighteenth-century houses and convert them into guest accommodation. In My French Affair, Amanda describes the trials and tribulations of working with French tradesmen (both good and bad), getting to know the local villagers, hosting guests from around the world, teaching guests to cook in Maison de Maîtresse's kitchen, and her joy in new and old friendships and the daily delights of life in France. With over 30 mouth-watering French recipes to try, My French Affair is a treat for the tastebuds as well as for the soul.
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited
ISBN: 1869797817
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 262
Book Description
A lively, inspiring account of a New Zealand woman's decision to create a new life in the south of France. Amanda Taylor-Ace's philosophy is 'joie de vivre unlimited' - living life with unlimited joy. So when her 14-year-old son fell in with a bad crowd and her life in Auckland needed a shake-up, she packed their bags and took him to France for a year. My French Affair is the story of how and why she decided to stay. Not content with simply living in France, she decided to renovate two eighteenth-century houses and convert them into guest accommodation. In My French Affair, Amanda describes the trials and tribulations of working with French tradesmen (both good and bad), getting to know the local villagers, hosting guests from around the world, teaching guests to cook in Maison de Maîtresse's kitchen, and her joy in new and old friendships and the daily delights of life in France. With over 30 mouth-watering French recipes to try, My French Affair is a treat for the tastebuds as well as for the soul.
A Very French Affair
Author: Maria Hoyle
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 176118976X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 227
Book Description
A transcontinental, romantic memoir in the vein of A Year in Provence and Eat, Pray, Love. 'Whether you are contemplating your second act, a fellow Francophile, introvert or gourmande, whether you are a romantic, a clown, or just a lover of life in all its messy wonder, I dare you to read this book and not be entranced. Quite simply it is a delight.' - Megan Nicol Reed What do you say when a man you've dated a handful of times asks you to go live with him in a mill by a river in France? The obvious answer is: 'Are you out of your mind?' Maria Hoyle's was: 'Okay.' At the age of 63 she left her life in Auckland - her two daughters, her dog, her friends, a beautiful rental by a beach, and everything she'd loved for more than two decades - to settle in a tiny French village with a partner she barely knew. What could possibly go wrong? Maria arrived in the remote hamlet with trepidation but also a little bravado - after all, with a degree in French, she was confident about communicating with the locals. And yes - that part was mostly fine (apart from some amusing faux pas). The true challenges were learning to communicate with her new partner, Alistair (they were smitten with each other, but also sitting on a pile of baggage and emotional wounds) and adapting to life in rural France when her idea of a great day out was shopping, lunch in a bustling café and a movie. Does Maria have it in her to persevere? To make good friends and truly feel at home? Crucially, is she making another terrible romantic mistake - or is she finally growing and learning what it means to move beyond the infatuation stage and make a relationship work? Maria's tale is about grabbing life with both hands whatever your age, what it means to belong, the joys and frustrations of French living, and why you should always look closely at a map before emigrating. Ultimately, though, it is a story about the greatest adventure of all. Love.
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 176118976X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 227
Book Description
A transcontinental, romantic memoir in the vein of A Year in Provence and Eat, Pray, Love. 'Whether you are contemplating your second act, a fellow Francophile, introvert or gourmande, whether you are a romantic, a clown, or just a lover of life in all its messy wonder, I dare you to read this book and not be entranced. Quite simply it is a delight.' - Megan Nicol Reed What do you say when a man you've dated a handful of times asks you to go live with him in a mill by a river in France? The obvious answer is: 'Are you out of your mind?' Maria Hoyle's was: 'Okay.' At the age of 63 she left her life in Auckland - her two daughters, her dog, her friends, a beautiful rental by a beach, and everything she'd loved for more than two decades - to settle in a tiny French village with a partner she barely knew. What could possibly go wrong? Maria arrived in the remote hamlet with trepidation but also a little bravado - after all, with a degree in French, she was confident about communicating with the locals. And yes - that part was mostly fine (apart from some amusing faux pas). The true challenges were learning to communicate with her new partner, Alistair (they were smitten with each other, but also sitting on a pile of baggage and emotional wounds) and adapting to life in rural France when her idea of a great day out was shopping, lunch in a bustling café and a movie. Does Maria have it in her to persevere? To make good friends and truly feel at home? Crucially, is she making another terrible romantic mistake - or is she finally growing and learning what it means to move beyond the infatuation stage and make a relationship work? Maria's tale is about grabbing life with both hands whatever your age, what it means to belong, the joys and frustrations of French living, and why you should always look closely at a map before emigrating. Ultimately, though, it is a story about the greatest adventure of all. Love.
The Margot Affair
Author: Sanaë Lemoine
Publisher: Hogarth
ISBN: 1984854445
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Book Description
An “exquisite” (The New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice) and “wonderfully Parisian” (Leila Slimani, author of The Perfect Nanny) debut novel of intrigue and deception. “Betrayal and desire fuel the story of Margot, the secret daughter of a twenty-year affair between a French politician and a famous actress. . . . A startling, affecting first book by an author who is confident in her craft.”—The New York Times Margot Louve has lived her whole life as a secret. The hidden daughter of a long-standing affair, she exists with her mother in the shadows, living in a small Parisian apartment on the Left Bank. It is a house of cards that Margot—fueled by a longing to be seen and heard—decides to tumble. The summer of her seventeenth birthday, she meets a well-regarded journalist who will set her plan in motion. But as Margot is drawn into an adult world she struggles to comprehend, she learns how one impulsive decision can shatter the lives of those around her in ways she could never have imagined. Incisively exposing the seams between private lives and public faces, The Margot Affair is a simmering exploration of desire, transgression, and the dangers of speaking the truth.
Publisher: Hogarth
ISBN: 1984854445
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Book Description
An “exquisite” (The New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice) and “wonderfully Parisian” (Leila Slimani, author of The Perfect Nanny) debut novel of intrigue and deception. “Betrayal and desire fuel the story of Margot, the secret daughter of a twenty-year affair between a French politician and a famous actress. . . . A startling, affecting first book by an author who is confident in her craft.”—The New York Times Margot Louve has lived her whole life as a secret. The hidden daughter of a long-standing affair, she exists with her mother in the shadows, living in a small Parisian apartment on the Left Bank. It is a house of cards that Margot—fueled by a longing to be seen and heard—decides to tumble. The summer of her seventeenth birthday, she meets a well-regarded journalist who will set her plan in motion. But as Margot is drawn into an adult world she struggles to comprehend, she learns how one impulsive decision can shatter the lives of those around her in ways she could never have imagined. Incisively exposing the seams between private lives and public faces, The Margot Affair is a simmering exploration of desire, transgression, and the dangers of speaking the truth.
The French Affair
Author: Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
ISBN: 1432302930
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 440
Book Description
The French Affair is a collection of recipes collected by author, chef and photographer Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen on his life journey that took him from a farm in South Africa to the French Riviera and Paris. The book is a feast for the eyes and nourishment for the soul, reflecting Jan Hendrik’s love affair with France and its culture of good food, fresh produce from local markets and the meals that have inspired him on his travels through these epicurean surroundings. Jan Hendrik’s love of food was nurtured by his mother and grandmothers, and this family influence and his South African roots are reflected in his recipes for Ouma se Soetkoekies (spice and sweet wine biscuits) and Milk Tart with Cinnamon Quinces. Dishes such as Cauliflower and Roquefort Soup, and Creamy Chicken and Corn Pot Pies are inspired by his student years in Stellenbosch, while Rabbit and Wild Mushroom Ragoût, Sticky Tarte Tatin and Croque- Monsieur à la Banane clearly show the French influence. Oysters Baked with Champagne Cream and Turkish Delight Pavlova reflect his time spent as a private chef on a yacht on the French Riviera. There is also a chapter with basic recipes for pastry, pasta, jams and preserves.
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
ISBN: 1432302930
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 440
Book Description
The French Affair is a collection of recipes collected by author, chef and photographer Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen on his life journey that took him from a farm in South Africa to the French Riviera and Paris. The book is a feast for the eyes and nourishment for the soul, reflecting Jan Hendrik’s love affair with France and its culture of good food, fresh produce from local markets and the meals that have inspired him on his travels through these epicurean surroundings. Jan Hendrik’s love of food was nurtured by his mother and grandmothers, and this family influence and his South African roots are reflected in his recipes for Ouma se Soetkoekies (spice and sweet wine biscuits) and Milk Tart with Cinnamon Quinces. Dishes such as Cauliflower and Roquefort Soup, and Creamy Chicken and Corn Pot Pies are inspired by his student years in Stellenbosch, while Rabbit and Wild Mushroom Ragoût, Sticky Tarte Tatin and Croque- Monsieur à la Banane clearly show the French influence. Oysters Baked with Champagne Cream and Turkish Delight Pavlova reflect his time spent as a private chef on a yacht on the French Riviera. There is also a chapter with basic recipes for pastry, pasta, jams and preserves.
An Affair of Poisons
Author: Addie Thorley
Publisher: Page Street YA
ISBN: 1624147135
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 401
Book Description
No one looks kindly on the killer of a king. “Fast-paced and refreshing.” – SLJ, starred review “The perfect blend of history and dark fantasy.” – Mary Taranta, author of Shimmer and Burn “Thrilling, romantic, and addictive.” – Rosalyn Eves, author of Blood Rose Rebellion “The only cure is to finish it.” – Lyndsay Ely, author of Gunslinger Girl After unwittingly helping her mother poison King Louis XIV, seventeen-year-old alchemist Mirabelle Monvoisin is forced to see her mother’s Shadow Society in a horrifying new light: they’re not heroes of the people, as they’ve always claimed to be, but murderers. Herself included. Mira tries to ease her guilt by brewing helpful curatives, but her hunger tonics and headache remedies cannot right past wrongs or save the dissenters her mother vows to purge. Royal bastard Josse de Bourbon is more kitchen boy than fils de France. But when the Shadow Society assassinates the Sun King and half of the royal court, he must become the prince he was never meant to be in order to save his injured sisters and the petulant dauphin. Forced to hide in the sewers beneath the city, Josse’s hope of reclaiming Paris seems impossible—until his path collides with Mirabelle’s. She’s a deadly poisoner. He’s a bastard prince. They are sworn enemies, yet they form a tenuous pact to unite the commoners and former nobility against the Shadow Society. But can a rebellion built on mistrust ever hope to succeed?
Publisher: Page Street YA
ISBN: 1624147135
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 401
Book Description
No one looks kindly on the killer of a king. “Fast-paced and refreshing.” – SLJ, starred review “The perfect blend of history and dark fantasy.” – Mary Taranta, author of Shimmer and Burn “Thrilling, romantic, and addictive.” – Rosalyn Eves, author of Blood Rose Rebellion “The only cure is to finish it.” – Lyndsay Ely, author of Gunslinger Girl After unwittingly helping her mother poison King Louis XIV, seventeen-year-old alchemist Mirabelle Monvoisin is forced to see her mother’s Shadow Society in a horrifying new light: they’re not heroes of the people, as they’ve always claimed to be, but murderers. Herself included. Mira tries to ease her guilt by brewing helpful curatives, but her hunger tonics and headache remedies cannot right past wrongs or save the dissenters her mother vows to purge. Royal bastard Josse de Bourbon is more kitchen boy than fils de France. But when the Shadow Society assassinates the Sun King and half of the royal court, he must become the prince he was never meant to be in order to save his injured sisters and the petulant dauphin. Forced to hide in the sewers beneath the city, Josse’s hope of reclaiming Paris seems impossible—until his path collides with Mirabelle’s. She’s a deadly poisoner. He’s a bastard prince. They are sworn enemies, yet they form a tenuous pact to unite the commoners and former nobility against the Shadow Society. But can a rebellion built on mistrust ever hope to succeed?
Where There's a Kilt, There's a Way
Author: Ella Stainton
Publisher: Carina Press
ISBN: 1488076944
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 302
Book Description
This book was a total delight -- Cat Sebastian, author of Two Rogues Make a Right on Best Laid Plaids Have kilt, will travel. Sweden, 1930 Two years ago, Dr. Ainsley Graham proved the existence of ghosts and fell in love—hard to top that. But a trip to Sweden to research at a prestigious university for the summer is nothing to sneeze at, especially since his partner, psychologist Joachim Cockburn, will be teaching alongside him. A change of scenery might be just the thing. Their idyllic trip to Sweden is interrupted by a ghost with a proclivity for rude hand gestures and graphic curse words—and a ghastly history begging to be investigated. Life among the living is complicated, too, by a gruff professor who can’t take his eyes off Ainsley, and an enticing new job offer for Joachim. What starts as an adventurous trip abroad turns into mayhem, murder, and…a magical moose? And everyone—well, perhaps not the moose—is a suspect in the death of the ghostly young man who brings them together to expose secrets, loves lost, and a crime that will shock them all. Kilty Pleasures Book 1: Best Laid Plaids Book 2: Where There’s a Kilt, There’s a Way
Publisher: Carina Press
ISBN: 1488076944
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 302
Book Description
This book was a total delight -- Cat Sebastian, author of Two Rogues Make a Right on Best Laid Plaids Have kilt, will travel. Sweden, 1930 Two years ago, Dr. Ainsley Graham proved the existence of ghosts and fell in love—hard to top that. But a trip to Sweden to research at a prestigious university for the summer is nothing to sneeze at, especially since his partner, psychologist Joachim Cockburn, will be teaching alongside him. A change of scenery might be just the thing. Their idyllic trip to Sweden is interrupted by a ghost with a proclivity for rude hand gestures and graphic curse words—and a ghastly history begging to be investigated. Life among the living is complicated, too, by a gruff professor who can’t take his eyes off Ainsley, and an enticing new job offer for Joachim. What starts as an adventurous trip abroad turns into mayhem, murder, and…a magical moose? And everyone—well, perhaps not the moose—is a suspect in the death of the ghostly young man who brings them together to expose secrets, loves lost, and a crime that will shock them all. Kilty Pleasures Book 1: Best Laid Plaids Book 2: Where There’s a Kilt, There’s a Way
French Lessons
Author: Alice Kaplan
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022656648X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 239
Book Description
“[A] cultural odyssey, a brave attempt to articulate the compulsions that drove [Kaplan] to embrace foreignness in order to become truly herself.” —The Washington Post Book World Brilliantly uniting the personal and the critical, French Lessons is a powerful autobiographical experiment. It tells the story of an American woman escaping into the French language and of a scholar and teacher coming to grips with her history of learning. In spare, midwestern prose, by turns intimate and wry, Kaplan describes how, as a student in a Swiss boarding school and later in a junior year abroad in Bordeaux, she passionately sought the French “r,” attentively honed her accent, and learned the idioms of her French lover. When, as a graduate student, her passion for French culture turned to the elegance and sophistication of its intellectual life, she found herself drawn to the language and style of the novelist Louis-Ferdinand Celine. At the same time, she was repulsed by his anti-Semitism. At Yale in the late 70s, during the heyday of deconstruction she chose to transgress its apolitical purity and work on a subject “that made history impossible to ignore”: French fascist intellectuals. Kaplan’s discussion of the “de Man affair” —the discovery that her brilliant and charismatic Yale professor had written compromising articles for the pro-Nazi Belgian press—and her personal account of the paradoxes of deconstruction are among the most compelling available on this subject. French Lessons belongs in the company of Sartre’s Words and the memoirs of Nathalie Sarraute, Annie Ernaux, and Eva Hoffman. No book so engrossingly conveys both the excitement of learning and the moral dilemmas of the intellectual life.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022656648X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 239
Book Description
“[A] cultural odyssey, a brave attempt to articulate the compulsions that drove [Kaplan] to embrace foreignness in order to become truly herself.” —The Washington Post Book World Brilliantly uniting the personal and the critical, French Lessons is a powerful autobiographical experiment. It tells the story of an American woman escaping into the French language and of a scholar and teacher coming to grips with her history of learning. In spare, midwestern prose, by turns intimate and wry, Kaplan describes how, as a student in a Swiss boarding school and later in a junior year abroad in Bordeaux, she passionately sought the French “r,” attentively honed her accent, and learned the idioms of her French lover. When, as a graduate student, her passion for French culture turned to the elegance and sophistication of its intellectual life, she found herself drawn to the language and style of the novelist Louis-Ferdinand Celine. At the same time, she was repulsed by his anti-Semitism. At Yale in the late 70s, during the heyday of deconstruction she chose to transgress its apolitical purity and work on a subject “that made history impossible to ignore”: French fascist intellectuals. Kaplan’s discussion of the “de Man affair” —the discovery that her brilliant and charismatic Yale professor had written compromising articles for the pro-Nazi Belgian press—and her personal account of the paradoxes of deconstruction are among the most compelling available on this subject. French Lessons belongs in the company of Sartre’s Words and the memoirs of Nathalie Sarraute, Annie Ernaux, and Eva Hoffman. No book so engrossingly conveys both the excitement of learning and the moral dilemmas of the intellectual life.
The Bettencourt Affair
Author: Tom Sancton
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 110198449X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 417
Book Description
An NPR Best Book of 2017 Heiress to the nearly forty-billion-dollar L’Oréal fortune, Liliane Bettencourt was the world’s richest woman and the fourteenth wealthiest person. But her gilded life took a dark yet fascinating turn in the past decade. At ninety-four, she was embroiled in what has been called the Bettencourt Affair, a scandal that dominated the headlines in France. Why? It’s a tangled web of hidden secrets, divided loyalties, frayed relationships, and fractured families, set in the most romantic city—and involving the most glamorous industry—in the world. The Bettencourt Affair started as a family drama but quickly became a massive scandal, uncovering L’Oréal’s shadowy corporate history and buried World War II secrets. From the Right Bank mansions to the Left Bank artist havens; and from the Bettencourts’ servant quarters to the office of President Nicolas Sarkozy; all of Paris was shaken by the blockbuster case, the shocking reversals, and the surprising final victim. It all began when Liliane met François-Marie Banier, an artist and photographer who was, in his youth, the toast of Paris and a protégé of Salvador Dalí. Over the next two decades, Banier was given hundreds of millions of dollars in gifts, cash, and insurance policies by Liliane. What, exactly, was their relationship? It wasn’t clear, least of all to Liliane’s daughter and only child, Françoise, who became suspicious of Banier’s motives and filed a lawsuit against him. But Banier has a far different story to tell... The Bettencourt Affair is part courtroom drama; part upstairs-downstairs tale; and part characterdriven story of a complex, fascinating family and the intruder who nearly tore it apart.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 110198449X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 417
Book Description
An NPR Best Book of 2017 Heiress to the nearly forty-billion-dollar L’Oréal fortune, Liliane Bettencourt was the world’s richest woman and the fourteenth wealthiest person. But her gilded life took a dark yet fascinating turn in the past decade. At ninety-four, she was embroiled in what has been called the Bettencourt Affair, a scandal that dominated the headlines in France. Why? It’s a tangled web of hidden secrets, divided loyalties, frayed relationships, and fractured families, set in the most romantic city—and involving the most glamorous industry—in the world. The Bettencourt Affair started as a family drama but quickly became a massive scandal, uncovering L’Oréal’s shadowy corporate history and buried World War II secrets. From the Right Bank mansions to the Left Bank artist havens; and from the Bettencourts’ servant quarters to the office of President Nicolas Sarkozy; all of Paris was shaken by the blockbuster case, the shocking reversals, and the surprising final victim. It all began when Liliane met François-Marie Banier, an artist and photographer who was, in his youth, the toast of Paris and a protégé of Salvador Dalí. Over the next two decades, Banier was given hundreds of millions of dollars in gifts, cash, and insurance policies by Liliane. What, exactly, was their relationship? It wasn’t clear, least of all to Liliane’s daughter and only child, Françoise, who became suspicious of Banier’s motives and filed a lawsuit against him. But Banier has a far different story to tell... The Bettencourt Affair is part courtroom drama; part upstairs-downstairs tale; and part characterdriven story of a complex, fascinating family and the intruder who nearly tore it apart.