Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

I picked up the following two books recently at the bookstore.  One is a new biography of Chanel entitled, COCO CHANEL: The legend and the Life by Justine Picardie. Everyone knows who Gabrille 'Coco' Chanel was, or at least they know the name of her fashion house, even if they don't know who she was.  This book is expensive, $40.00 (although right now you can buy it at bn.com for $22), but it is filled with amazing photographs. I spent the first few days that I had the book just looking at the photographs, without even reading the text.  As a biography, Picardie doesn't reveal much new information about Chanel, but it is an entertaining read. I particularly enjoyed the description at the beginning of the book of her visit to Chanel's apartment. I would put this on my shelf next to my Axel Madsen biography. The other new book I picked up recently is one of three new biographies of the late stylist, beauty editor and fashion muse, Isabella Blow.  One of the other bo

The winner of the AFTER THE FALLS giveaway is: KATIE MAY Katie, I will be emailing you to get your snailmail address so that I can send you the book.  Thanks to everyone who left a comment, and Have a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Welcome to Scandalous Women, Catherine! I can’t tell you how excited I was to read your new memoir AFTER THE FALLS. But I have to ask, how does a clinical psychologist suddenly become a bestselling author? Tell us about this metamorphosis. I am not so sure that it was a metamorphosis—it was more of an accident. I didn’t start writing until I was 50 years old. (I did write a psychological column for a magazine but it was not creative writing.) I had been a psychologist for 25 years. I was at a dinner party and a guest said that she felt sorry for her sixteen year old daughter who had to get a job and lose her childhood. I said that sixteen year old kids should be working. You can’t be a child forever. I worked at four years of age and it was good for me. On our way home from the dinner party my husband informed me that we would never be invited there again. The next morning the hostess of the party called me and said the story of my childhood working with the black delivery car dri

THE PRINCESS OF NOWHERE: A novel of Pauline Borghese, sister of Napoleon - Prince Lorenzo Borghese Harper Collins/Avon A December 7, 2010 From the back cover:  Princess Pauline Borghese was one of the most fascinating women of her day. Now her story is unforgettably told by one of her descendants.... The sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, Pauline knows that her sole purpose has always been to make an advantageous marriage to further her ambitious brother's goals. But her joie de vivre cannot be contained—much to the dismay of her new husband, Prince Camillo Borghese. Pauline and Camillo's relationship is tempestuous at best, with Pauline constantly seeking the attention of other men—especially after a heartbreaking loss leaves her devastated, desperate for attention, and searching for answers. Yet despite everything, the love that brought Pauline and Camillo together, as imperfect as it might be, can never truly be stifled. As seen through the eyes of the young woman who serv

I don't often have a chance to read other blogs but recently I have found a few that are so interesting I thought I would share them with you all. The first is called Murder by Gaslight , a fascinating blog devoted to crime in the 19th century.  I love true crime particularly when there is a historical element to it Recent posts included news about a new PBS documentary on Lizzie Borden as well as posts on Bill the Butcher (made famous by the Martin Scorcese film Gangs of New York).  I could spend hours going through all the past posts. Another fascinating blog is The Elizabeth Files . Created by Claire Ridgway as a companion to her popular site The Anne Boleyn Files , the Elizabeth Files is exactly what you would expect to be, chock a block full of interesting articles about Anne's daughter Elizabeth I. Another interesting Tudor blog is On The Tudor Trail.  Natalie has some wonderful posts and interviews with authors like Tracy Borham, author of Elizabeth's Women. One

AFTER THE FALLS: Coming of Age in the Sixties Catherine Gildiner October 28, 2010, 368 pages Viking Adult From the back cover: It's 1960 and twelve-year-old Cathy McClure has just been thrown out of Catholic school for-among other transgressions-filling the holy water fount with vodka. In the hopes of giving Cathy a fresh start away from their small town, the McClures leave behind Niagara Falls and the family pharmacy to start over in suburban Buffalo. But life in a subdivision and a school filled with "pubescent cheddar" holds little appeal for a girl who began working at four and smoking at nine. As the quaint world of 1950s America recedes into history, Cathy dives headfirst into the 1960s. Along the way, she adopts many personas with gusto-vandal, HoJo hostess, FBI suspect, civil rights demonstrator- but when tragedy strikes at home, Cathy must take on her most challenging role yet. As candid and compelling as Mary Karr's The Liars' Club and Jeanette Wa

I am happy to announce that the winners of Carolyn Meyers book The Bad Queen are Seat 3B and Donna Marie Ladies, I will be emailing you in the next few days for your snail mail addresses to send the books. I'd also like to thank everyone that entered the Marie Antoinette giveaway this month. If you are a new follower, I hope that you stick around.  There will be more reviews of books and films about Scandalous Women as well as new profiles over the next few weeks as we lead up to the end of the year.  Also, if you are on Facebook, please join the Scandalous Women fan page.

Marie Antoinette (1938) Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Directed by W.S. Van Dyke Written by: Donald Ogden Stewart, Ernest Vajda, Claudine West (based on the biography by Stefan Zweig) Cast: Norma Shearer as Marie Antoinette Tyrone Power as Count Axel von Fersen John Barrymore as King Louis XV Robert Morley as King Louis XVI Anita Louise as Princesse de Lamballe Joseph Schildkraut as Duc de Orleans Gladys George as Madame du Barry Henry Stephenson as Count Mercey Cora Witherspoon as Countess De Noailles Barnett Parker as Prince de Rohan Ruth Hussey as Duchess de Polignac   When I was a kid, I had a book called The Great Romantic Films by Lawrence Quirk which detailed a list of about 35 films up to about 1973.  I used to flip through the book constantly, marking off all the films as I saw them at the old Regency theater in New York and on television. One of the films listed  in the book was the 1938 film of Marie Antoinette starring Norma Shearer as the doomed Queen.

Happy Birthday to Marie Antoinette who was born today (as well as myself and Leah Marie Brown!).  To celebrate Marie's birthday (and mine), I am giving away 2 copies of Carolyn Meyer's YA novel THE BAD QUEEN.  Here is a sneak peek: History paints her as a shallow party girl, a spoiled fashionista, a callous ruler. Perhaps no other royal has been so maligned—and so misunderstood—as Marie-Antoinette. From the moment she was betrothed to the dauphin of France at age fourteen, perfection was demanded of Marie-Antoinette. She tried to please everyone—courtiers, her young husband, the king, the French people—but often fell short of their expectations. Desperate for affection and subjected to constant scrutiny, this spirited young woman can’t help but want to let loose with elaborate parties, scandalous fashions, and unimaginable luxuries. But as Marie-Antoinette’s lifestyle gets ever-more recklessly extravagant, the peasants of France are suffering from increasing poverty—and becom

"Let them step forward and solve this mystery, if they can." - E.E. Lewis, author of A Report of the Mysterious Noises Heard in the House of Mr. John D. Fox in Hydesville, Arcadia, Wayne County .                                   The year 1848 was a momentous one in New York State. It was the year the first Women's Rights Convention as held in Seneca Falls; John Humphrey Noyes established a commune in Oneida, NY that was based on Biblical communism ad 'Complex Marriage," a man named Orson Fowler built a 60 room octagonal mansion in Fishkill, NY.  But it was the events in tiny Hydesville, NY that would have profound effects on the nation and the world at large. Two adolescent girls Margaretta (Maggie) and her younger sister Catherine (Kate) Fox soon became the focus for the new spiritualism movement which became a major interest not only to Americans but around the world.  To this day, there is a question about whether or not the Fox sisters were genuine medium