The Courtesan's Secret

The Courtesan's Secret PDF Author: Claudia Dain
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780425221365
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
To win the love of the rakish Marquis of Dutton, as well as to retrieve the family pearls that are in his possession, Lady Louisa Kirkland enlists the seductive assistance of former courtesan Lady Sophia, in a sexy Regency-era novel by the author of The Courtesan's Daughter. Original.

The Courtesan's Secret

The Courtesan's Secret PDF Author: Claudia Dain
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780425221365
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
To win the love of the rakish Marquis of Dutton, as well as to retrieve the family pearls that are in his possession, Lady Louisa Kirkland enlists the seductive assistance of former courtesan Lady Sophia, in a sexy Regency-era novel by the author of The Courtesan's Daughter. Original.

The Book of the Courtesans

The Book of the Courtesans PDF Author: Susan Griffin
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0767910826
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
From Pulitzer-Prize-nominated author Susan Griffin comes an unprecedented, provocative look at the dazzling world of the West’s first independent women, whose lively liaisons brought them unspoken influence, wealth, and freedom. While they charmed some of Europe’s most illustrious men honing their social skills as well as their sexual ones, the great courtesans gained riches, power, education, and sexual freedom in a time when other women were denied all of these. From Imperia of sixteenth-century Rome, who personified the Renaissance ideal of beauty; Mme. de Pompadour, the arbiter of all things fashionable in eighteenth-century Paris and Versailles; Liane de Pougy, known in France during the Belle Epoque as “Our National Courtesan”; to Sarah Bernhardt, who, following in her mother’s footsteps, supported herself in her early career with a second profession, The Book of the Courtesans tells the life stories and intricacies of the lavish lifestyles of these women. Unlike their geisha counterparts, courtesans neither lived in brothels nor bent their wills to suit their suitors. They were strong- willed, autonomous, and plucky. An open secret, their presence can be felt throughout our culture. The muses who enflamed the hearts and imaginations of our most celebrated artists, they were also artists in their own right. They wrote poetry and novels, invented the cancan at the Moulin Rouge, and presented celebrated acts at the Folies Bergères. They helped to influence and shape the sensibility of modern literature, painting, and fashion. When Greek sculptor Praxiteles wanted to depict Venus he used a famous courtesan as a model, as in later centuries Titian, Veronese, Raphael, Giorgione, and Boucher did when they painted goddesses. When Marcel Proust was a young man it was the courtesan Laure Hayman who took him under her wing, introducing him to the right people, and providing inspiration for one of literature’s greatest masterpieces. And they often had considerable political influence too. When King Louis XV needed advice on foreign affairs or appointments of state he turned to Jeanne du Barry as well as Pompadour. In her witty and insightful prose, as Griffin celebrates these alluring and fascinating women, she restores a lost legacy of women’s history. She gives us the stories of these amazing women who, starting from impoverished or unimpressive beginnings, garnered chateaux, fine coaches, fabulous collections of jewelry, and even aristocratic titles along the way. And through a brilliant exploration of their extraordinary abilities, skills, and talents which Griffin playfully categorizes as their virtues "Timing, Beauty, Cheek, Brilliance, Gaiety, Grace, and Charm" her book explains how, while helping themselves, through their often outrageous, always entertaining examples, the great courtesans not only enriched our cultural heritage but helped to liberate women from the social, sexual, and economic strictures that confined them. Intensively researched and beautifully crafted, The Book of the Courtesans delves into scintillating but often hidden worlds, telling stories gleaned from many sources, including courtesans’ memoirs, presented along with stunning rare photographs to create memorable portraits of some of the most pivotal figures in women’s history.

Risque Beauty

Risque Beauty PDF Author: Daniela Turudich
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781930064188
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"The recipes, tips, instructions, and secrets are from period sources and are historically accurate and authentic in nature. We have taken great pains to remove [those] that were obviously dangerous ... and have included those that may be easily replicated at home"--Page 5.

Yoshiwara

Yoshiwara PDF Author: Cecilia Segawa Seigle
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824814885
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Drawing on both historical and literary sources, examines life in the pleasure houses of Japan during the Edo period from the early 1600s to 1868. Among the topics are the origins, illegal competitors, the cost of a visit, the treatment of the courtesans, traditions and protocols, Yoshiwara arts, th

In the Company of the Courtesan

In the Company of the Courtesan PDF Author: Sarah Dunant
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1588365506
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
My lady, Fiammetta Bianchini, was plucking her eyebrows and biting color into her lips when the unthinkable happened and the Holy Roman Emperor’s army blew a hole in the wall of God’s eternal city, letting in a flood of half-starved, half-crazed troops bent on pillage and punishment. Thus begins In the Company of the Courtesan, Sarah Dunant’s epic novel of life in Renaissance Italy. Escaping the sack of Rome in 1527, with their stomachs churning on the jewels they have swallowed, the courtesan Fiammetta and her dwarf companion, Bucino, head for Venice, the shimmering city born out of water to become a miracle of east-west trade: rich and rancid, pious and profitable, beautiful and squalid. With a mix of courage and cunning they infiltrate Venetian society. Together they make the perfect partnership: the sharp-tongued, sharp-witted dwarf, and his vibrant mistress, trained from birth to charm, entertain, and satisfy men who have the money to support her. Yet as their fortunes rise, this perfect partnership comes under threat, from the searing passion of a lover who wants more than his allotted nights to the attentions of an admiring Turk in search of human novelties for his sultan’s court. But Fiammetta and Bucino’s greatest challenge comes from a young crippled woman, a blind healer who insinuates herself into their lives and hearts with devastating consequences for them all. A story of desire and deception, sin and religion, loyalty and friendship, In the Company of the Courtesan paints a portrait of one of the world’s greatest cities at its most potent moment in history: It is a picture that remains vivid long after the final page.

The Mistress of Paris

The Mistress of Paris PDF Author: Catherine Hewitt
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1250120667
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 377

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Book Description
"First published in the United Kingdom by Icon Books Ltd"--Title page verso.

The Parisian Sphinx

The Parisian Sphinx PDF Author: Summer Brennan
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
ISBN: 9781328771001
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
A gripping art history cold case: the previously untold story of Victorine Meurent, forgotten painter and famous muse to artists from Manet to Toulouse-Lautrec, and the modern search for her lost paintings When former art student and journalist Summer Brennan learned that Édouard Manet's favorite model from such iconic works as Olympia and Lunch on the Grass had been a painter in her own right, but that all of her paintings had been lost, she couldn't resist the allure of the mystery. Appearing in more than thirty surviving works by her era's most famous academic, impressionist, and post-impressionist artists, Victorine Meurent was part of the creation of a mythic bohemian Paris: Émile Zola is said to have modeled one of the scandalous heroines on her, and she lived, drank, and exhibited her work alongside legends like Monet, Degas, and a group of women known as the "lesbian sisterhood of Montmartre." After more than a decade spent researching Meurent and her world, Brennan painstakingly pieced together clues to tell a fuller picture of her life and reclaim the first pieces of her lost oeuvre, revealed here for the first time. The Parisian Sphinx is an art history puzzle in which Meurent emerges as artist, muse, and woman ahead of her time, who defined and defied an era.

Secret Ways

Secret Ways PDF Author: Kat Martin
Publisher: Gallery Books
ISBN: 9781501152382
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
No one sets fire to the page like New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin, who takes readers into the opulent world of Regency-era England with novels that shimmer with passion and linger in the heart long after the last page is turned. Vermillion Lee Durant is well versed in the art of seduction and determined to remain loyal to the destiny she was born to fulfill. But to Captain Caleb Tanner, a British officer hunting a spy who has been leaking information to the French, she may be more than the flirtatious young woman she seems. Assigned to uncover the truth about Vermillion and her aunt, Caleb poses as a groom at the Durant racing stables -- and fights an attraction to Vermillion that may cloud his judgment and threaten his heart. Both captivated and annoyed by the handsome, arrogant groom, Vermillion vows to resist him -- knowing she must choose allegiance to her family over the desires Caleb has awakened. But passion and truth cannot always be denied, even for two lovers who are masters at keeping secrets.

Courtesan

Courtesan PDF Author: Dora Levy Mossanen
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439188327
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
Set amid the elegant châteaux of Belle époque France and the closely guarded world of nineteenth-century Persian women, Courtesan unfolds with the breathtaking cinematic sweep and stunning visual grandeur of an epic film. At its heart are three unforgettable women: Madame Gabrielle, the courtesan whose fateful liaison with the shah of Persia reverberates in the lives of her daughter, Françoise, and her rebellious and brave granddaughter, Simone, whose journey plunges her into the cutthroat diamond trade, where the secrets of an ancient culture may hold the truth she desperately seeks.

A Courtesan's Guide to Getting Your Man

A Courtesan's Guide to Getting Your Man PDF Author: Celeste Bradley
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312532567
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Book Description
When Boston museum curator Piper Chase-Pierpont unearths the steamy memoirs of Regency London's most celebrated courtesan, the Blackbird, she's aroused and challenged by what she finds. Could the courtesan's diaries be used as a modern girl's guide to finding love and empowerment?