True Pleasures: A Memoir of Women in Paris [Hardcover]

Lucinda Holdforth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 23, 2005

Meet the dazzling women of Paris: from Colette to Nancy Mitford; Marie Antoinette to Coco Chanel; Madame de Stael to Pamela Harriman; Napoleon’s Josephine to Edith Wharton. Rule-breakers and style-setters, demimondes and diplomats, these women were utterly diverse, yet all shared one common passion — Paris, the world’s headquarters of femininity.

At a turning point in her life, Lucinda Holdforth journeys to Paris and takes a very personal tour through the lives, loves, and losses of its celebrated women. She evokes the city’s incarnations from Louis XIV through the French Revolution, two world wars and the Paris of the new millennium. As she walks in their footsteps, she draws inspiration from the fascinating women who created and nurtured the world’s most civilized city. Sophisticated, witty, and intelligent, this entrancing travelogue will seduce and inspire every woman in search of her own true pleasures.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Greystone Books; First Edition edition (August 23, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1553651294
• ISBN-13: 978-1553651291
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #468,044 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lucinda is the author of two non-fiction works: True Pleasures: A Memoir of Women in Paris (2004) and Why Manners Matter: The Case for Civilised Behaviour in a Barbarous World (2007) that are still being published in markets and languages around the world. In 2010 Lucinda was one of three judges of the Douglas Stewart non-fiction prize for the NSW Premier's Literary Awards.

Lucinda lives in Sydney, Australia, with her husband Syd Hickman. She would like to persuade the world that clear communication, based on lucid thinking, is one of the key ways we express ourselves as civilised beings.

Learn more about Lucinda's work at her website, http://www.lucindaholdforth.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, insightful review of Paris' most engaging women, January 30, 2006

By 

FizzyBlonde - See all my reviews

This review is from: True Pleasures: A Memoir of Women in Paris (Hardcover)

I loved this book. It is part biography, part philosophy, part social analysis. I found insight and inspiration in every chapter, and historical figures about whom I knew little or nothing came vividly to life. Holdforth goes to Paris to shake up her system and determine a direction for her life, and by studying the lives of many famous Parisian women (born there or elsewhere), she does just that. If you love Paris, want to read about some fascinating women, or think there is more to womanhood than work, marriage or children, you'll enjoy this book a lot. (She also makes an excellent case for aging gracefully in Paris, and if I ever win the Lotto, that's exactly what I plan to do!)

30 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not about interesting women in Paris, only about the author, August 29, 2006

By 

Abby Raffles (NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: True Pleasures: A Memoir of Women in Paris (Hardcover)

This book was a disappointment. I bought it because I wanted to read about all the interesting women it claims to be about: Nancy Mitford, Ninon, many others. But it is not about them. It is about the author. Once in awhile she thinks about one of these women, and gives you her thoughts. But she doesn't tell you much about the women. You are left still wanting to know the lives and loves of the famous women of Paris. This book is for people who really want to know what the author thinks about Paris, but I don't know her and I'm not interested in what she thinks, nor when she feels tired, when she wants to lie down, what she eats, when she travels on the Metro, what she says to her friends. I wanted to read about what the charming and fascinating women of Paris said and thought.`

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book!, November 13, 2006

By 

New York Foodie - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: True Pleasures: A Memoir of Women in Paris (Hardcover)

I have a feeling the author and I would get along just fine! I too enjoy researching a historic figure (Catherine de Medici, Josephine, and Camille Claudel have all been recent obsessions) and then walking in her footsteps in Paris. Not only did this book reconnect me with some of my favorite femmes but it introduced me to more fascinating women and their neighborhoods. That thrill of discovery - when you look up at a particular balcony or past a small park that you may have passed countless times before - and suddenly realize its significance to the woman who once lived there - this is what the author captures perfectly. A wonderful gift for your fellow Francophiles and strong women!