Rhonda K. Garelick

COCO CHANEL AND THE PULSE OF HISTORY, the biography does justice to Coco. There have been many many biographies of her over the last decade some of which I read and most of which I liked. This book adds the economic, political, and social context in which Coco was operating. I don't think she was a nice woman and an unhappy woman. Her early life was awful but she was determined to make something of herself. Her big disappointment was the failure to marry and have a child. She dated a Romanov prince and imagined herself as the Empress of All Russia until that affair petered out. She had an affair with the enormously wealth Duke of Westminster and she saw herself as finally a Duchess but that didn't work out. Rich and famous men were fascinated by her but in the end didn't want to wed someone they viewed as below their class. She certainly was a huge success in fashion and perfume but not in life. The terrible blight on her record was that she was a Nazi and even a agent. I highly recommend this book if you have any interest in Coco and her times.… (more)

Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History by Rhonda K. Garelick is an over 600 page biography of Coco Chanel. The book focuses on Coco Chanel the person not the businesswoman who created a world-renowned luxury brand. It feels like it gives more of an opinion on the life of Coco Chanel rather than just the facts of her life.

Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2014/09/mademoiselle-coco-chanel-and-pulse-of.h...

Reviewed based on a publisher’s galley received through NetGalley… (more)