French Chic Book Club ~ Mistress of the Ritz

Welcome to the second year of the French Chic Book Club! Each month I select a book for my fellow Francophiles to read. This month we will be reading, “Mistress of the Ritz”.

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Mistress of the Ritz
by Melanie Benjamin

Nothing bad can happen at the Ritz; inside its gilded walls every woman looks beautiful, every man appears witty. Favored guests like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Coco Chanel, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor walk through its famous doors to be welcomed and pampered by Blanche Auzello and her husband, Claude, the hotel’s director. The Auzellos are the mistress and master of the Ritz, allowing the glamour and glitz to take their minds off their troubled marriage, and off the secrets that they keep from their guests—and each other.

Until June 1940, when the German army sweeps into Paris, setting up headquarters at the Ritz. Suddenly, with the likes of Hermann Goëring moving into suites once occupied by royalty, Blanche and Claude must navigate a terrifying new reality. One that entails even more secrets and lies. One that may destroy the tempestuous marriage between this beautiful, reckless American and her very proper Frenchman. For in order to survive—and strike a blow against their Nazi “guests”—Blanche and Claude must spin a web of deceit that ensnares everything and everyone they cherish.

But one secret is shared between Blanche and Claude alone—the secret that, in the end, threatens to imperil both of their lives, and to bring down the legendary Ritz itself.

Based on true events, Mistress of the Ritz is a taut tale of suspense wrapped up in a love story for the ages, the inspiring story of a woman and a man who discover the best in each other amid the turbulence of war.

Note: Many of us are doing our best to avoid purchasing from Amazon and a number of other large corporations, for a variety of reasons. I recommend checking the library or purchasing books from local book stores if you have them in your area. If not, Bookshop.org is a great option.

Bookshop.org

Amazon link

If you’d like to discuss this month’s French Chic book selection, I’ll have a pinned post in my French Chic Facebook group where you can share your thoughts and observations.

Have you joined the French Chic group yet? If not, here is the link:

French Chic

Be sure to answer the membership questions so your request will be approved.