Women Trailblazers

It's twelve days to go until The Family Way is published, so I'm getting excited.

I'm also gearing up to respond to more people who tell me Molly could never have been a detective in her time. So I've been thinking more about what women actually achieved in Molly's time. Of course the expectation was the women stay home and raise a family. But in spite of this women were doing amazing things.

Do you remember that wonderful TV series called The Duchess of Duke Street? It was about a woman from very humble beginnings who goes on to found one of the best hotels in London. And it was based on a real woman who founded Brown's Hotel (still going strong--the hotel, not the woman).

Then there is Coco Chanel, whom I have written about. She came from an orphanage, learned to sew, started designing hats for ladies, then their outfits and went on to create a fashion house and perfumerie known all over the world. Not only did she start a fashion house but she designed business suits for women, and chic trousers long before anyone else in the world dared to wear them. Hooray for Coco.

And we mustn't leave out the scientists and inventors. Madame Curie who won the Novel Prize for science. Alice Hamilton was a distinguished physician who was the first woman on the medical faculty at Harvard. And Augusta Ada King, the Countess of Lovelace worked with Charles Babbage on the first mechanical computer in the mid 1800s, writing was has come to be accepted as the first computer program.

So Molly--feel free to be brave, adventurous, ambitious.  Molly is married now, so it will be interesting to see whether being a married woman restricts her from carrying on a professional career, won't it? Somehow I don't think she'll stay home and have tea parties.

Final Countdown, Day 4

It's getting close...only 4 days until launch Next Tuesday!
And on Monday I'll announce the details of my fun launch contest.

So here is snippet number 4.

Coco Chanel has persuaded Georgie, much against her will, to be a model in her fashion show for the elite expats in Nice. Georgie is sure something will go wrong.....

“And for my piece de resistance I give you the royal look, as modeled by a member of England’s ruling family, Lady Georgiana Rannoch,” Chanel announced.


There was a gasp and then applause. The catwalk stretched into darkness, looking about a mile long. I was conscious of upturned faces, sparkling jewels, champagne glasses. I forced one foot in front of the other, trying to walk as I had been taught. I was going to do this. I had done harder things in my life. I was not going to stumble. Step followed step. I was going to get through it.

Then suddenly it was as if my foot wouldn’t move, as if something was holding it fast to the floor. I felt myself pitching forward, stumbling, trying to right myself. I might have done so but the end of the runway was before me. Flash bulbs went off in my face, blinding me. I vaguely heard gasps of horror as I staggered then pitched forward into blackness

Countdown, Day 3

Five days to go until Naughty in Nice is born--it's like the end of a pregancy: expectation, can't wait to get it over, just a little worried....

So here is snippet three from my new book. And keep watching for a contest announcement toward the end of the week....

On the Train to the Riviera where Lady Georgie is heading on a dubious errand from Queen Mary:


I looked down the rows of white clothed tables, their silver and china gleaming in the glow of little lamps. From here I couldn’t see a table that wasn’t occupied and wondered what the protocol was about joining someone on a train and whether I could ever pluck up courage to do that.

Of course the first person I noticed was the handsome Frenchman, sitting alone with another bottle of champagne beside him. He looked up from his soup and caught my gaze. He didn’t smile or nod as would have been usual. Instead he frowned at me.

“You are English?” he asked in French.

I replied that I was.

“Curious,” he replied. He was about to say something else when a voice from further down the car called to me, “I say. Aren’t you Georgiana Rannoch?”

It was a smartly dressed English lady, probably in her late forties. She was sitting with an exquisite and obviously French woman. I agreed that I was.

“Would you like to join us?” the first woman said. “It’s rather full at the moment but we have room, don’t we Coco?”

The Frenchwoman nodded and smiled. “Bien sure,” she said, waving a cigarette holder in my direction.

The Englishwoman stuck out a hand. “You look the spitting image of your father. I used to know him well. I’m Vera, by the way. Vera Bate Lombardi, and I believe we’re related, at least through marriage.”

I sat down on the chair she had pulled out for me. She waved imperiously and a waiter appeared. “My lady will be joining us, so set another place and you’d better bring us another bottle of Veuve Cliquot.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to dine with a rather bossy Englishwoman who claimed to be related to me, but it was better than standing like a wallflower.

“I actually stayed at Castle Rannoch when you were little,” she continued, “although I don’t suppose you remember me. We went out riding together once. You were a splendid little horsewoman.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I don’t often get a chance to ride any more and I miss it.”

“So do I,” she said. “I’m in Paris most of the year now, traipsing around behind Coco, and one can hardly get a decent gallop in the Bois de Boulogne..”

“You do not traipse behind me,” Coco said in English. “It makes you sound like a dog on a lead. Since you take bigger strides than I, then I am usually running to keep up with you. But you must introduce us, Vera. This very English young lady will not speak to me unless properly introduced.”

I laughed, but Vera said, “Sorry. Bad of me. Coco, this is Bertie’s daughter, Georgiana Rannoch. And this is my dear friend and business partner, Coco Chanel.”

The Day France Changed

My post yesterday about Chanel being a spy during WWII made me realize how much everything changed for France in that short time. At the time I write about the English used to winter on the Riviera, living a lavish lifestyle with yachts and hundreds of pounds lost at the casino. It was still the France of lax morals, mistresses, champagne and savoir faire. Then the Germans marched in, people who resisted were shot, most people were starving, Jews were rounded up and sent off to a fate nobody believed at the time.

It's easy to be judgmental about those who chose to collaborate. I could never have betrayed a countryman or woman to the Gestapo. I could never have willingly helped the Germans but might I have entertained German officers in the hope of getting a little more food for my children? I really don't know because I haven't had to make those choices.

It's easy to judge Chanel too. She had lived in the gutter. She knew what it was like to be starving. And she had worked all her life to build the house of Chanel into the fashion icon it was. So if she had a chance to live well, to be able to re-open her fashion house in Paris, she probably jumped at it without too much thought. And after the war she paid for it, tried as a collaborator. She escaped the fate of many French girls who had done nothing more than be friendly to lonely German boys far from home. They had their heads shaved and were cast out from society. She had enough connections to keep going, although there was prejudice against her fashions for a long time to come.

This is day 13 of my month of French fun and facts, to celebrate the release on Sept 6th of Naughty in Nice, which features Chanel and other celebrities of the Riviera (including Mrs. Simpson)
Leave a comment for a chance to win a prize at the end of the month.

Was Chanel a spy?

This snippet of news that was sent to me yesterday could hardly be more timely for the launch of Naughty in Nice:

A new book suggests that Coco Chanel was used as a German spy during WWII (code name Westminster , after the Duke of Westminster, who was her pre-war lover)
Several friends sent me the link and asked if I knew about this.
Absolutely, and what's more I'm dying to write about it.  It's too bad my series is only up to 1934 and I can't really skip ahead to the war yet.
But what I already knew was that Coco became the mistress of a German officer during the war. He had her write to her old business partner, Vera Bate Lombardi, who was living in Italy, having married Lombardi and wanting to be with him. The letter said that Chanel was reviving her fashion house and wanted Vera to come and help her. In fact the letter was to lure Vera to Paris any way she could. Once there she would be threatened and intimidated by the Gestapo until she agreed to be sent to England to work on Winston Churchill, who was a friend. There was even some hint that they wanted her to assassinate him.

Now you can see why I'm dying to use the story some time.  Chanel was the ultimate survivor. She came from nothing, an orphanage after being abandoned by her parents, and used one rich man after another to achieve what she wanted. The fact that she was prepared to use her dearest friend in this way showed how little regard she had for people.

A more cheerful subject tomorrow, I hope.
It's Dayd 12 of my month of French Fun and Facts, leading up to the release of Naughty in Nice on September 6th.

The Scent of Trouble

Today I'm moving away (reluctantly) from food to talk about one of the most fascinating characters I've come across in ages--Coco Chanel. As I said in an earlier post she was way ahead of her time, she was as tough as any man, she used people to get what she wanted and yet she was, in some ways, terribly naive.

When she decided she wanted to create a perfume, Chanel No 5, of course, she joined forces with Pierre and Paul Wertheimer, who were millionaire owners of a perfumerie house. She was in many ways not a good businesswoman and when she needed money she virtually signed away her rights to her perfumes. Their relationship was stormy. They employed a lawyer simply to handle the lawsuits from "that bloody woman" but she ended up having no control over her perfumes.

It's amazing how timeless No 5 is, isn't it? I have a bottle on my vanity now. And now that I know about Chanel and what she went through, I will think of her every time I put a dab on my wrist and remind myself to be wise and prudent in business dealings.

If I'm writing about all the good things that come from France, then perfume has to be near the top of my list. I used to love Madame Rochas, Je Reviens, Anais Anais, and Chanel. Any other French perfumes that are favorites?

This is day 10 of my month of French fun, celebrating the launch of my new Lady Georgie book, Naughty in Nice, on Sept 6th. Do check it out on Amazon--pure French fun!

Why I love Coco Chanel

Month of French Fun, Day 3:

When I started writing a book set on the French Riviera in the 1930s I wanted to see what real people might have been there that winter. And I discovered that one of them was Coco Chanel. How exciting was that?
I have always been in awe of her because she really invented fashion as we know it today.

When women were wearing corsets and flowing skirts and bustles and frou frou Chanel wore tailored men's suits. Can you imagine the uproar that caused? She made French women what they are today with her simple designs and clean lines. The closest I've ever come to owning anything by Chanel, apart from a bottle of Number 5 perfume, was a high end knock off coat, that I absolutely loved (picture of me wearing it, back in my youth),

In my story Chanel is putting on a fashion show combining the masculine and the feminine. Haven't we be doing that ever since?

(the picture shows Chanel with friend Vera Bate Lombardi, who was Queen Mary's illigitimate niece)

This Month of French Fun is to celebrate the publication of Naughty in Nice on September 6th. If you want to read a fun and suspenseful story in which Chanel is a key player, order your copy now.

And do leave a comment for a chance to win a fun French prize at the end of the month!

A Month of French Fun

This time last year I was in Nice, slaving away at research for my upcoming book. You have no idea how much writers have to suffer for their craft! All those bistros to check out; finding the perfect view of the blue Mediterranean, the perfumes of Grasse, the best local wines.  Joking aside, I did spend a lot of time in local libraries, looking at books of old photographs and maps, making sure I got everything right for the 1930s.  And the famous Negresco Hotel. Research there was a must. It's still a hotel at around $1000 a night so we didn't stay there. I was stopped by an impressive doorman, dripping gold braid, as I went up the front steps. I told him what I wanted and was escorted to the manager (or maybe it was the under, under manager). I handed him my card and told him that his hotel would feature in my new book.

"Madame, feel free,"  he said. So I spend a fabulous morning peeking into all the hidden corners of the Negresco hotel. Once again I discovered that the word "writer" opens so many doors.

Now it's exactly a year later and I am awaiting the publication of the book. It's called NAUGHTY IN NICE and it comes out on September 6th. So I thought I'd spend the next month celebrating everything I like about France--French food recipes, snippets about fashion and Chanel, and scarves,.
So please join me and add your comments about what YOU like about France.

 At the end of the month there will be a fun prize for the best comment.

And look for my new website, coming soon!

Royal Gossip Tuesday--another Duke of Cambridge

Last Monday I planned to talk about another Duke of Cambridge, but I got side tracked into another William and Kate story. I'll try not to get side tracked again about the latest sighting at Wimbledon, but I have to say 1. Her dress was fabulous and so appropriate and it sold out online in half an hour (she should start her own clothing line and could finance the whole royal family), and 2. didn't they look happy together? Turning to each other to share comments that made them both smile. So different from the early days of Charles and Diana--she the blushing and tonguetied bride, he indifferent and supercilious.

Anyway,  the title of the Duke of Cambridge has not existed since the last duke died in the early 1900s. He was a Prince of Teck. Cousin to Queen Victoria. Now it gets complicated. The son of this duke, Prince Adolphus of Teck, younger brother to Queen Mary of England and later styled Marquess of Cambridge, had an affair with Rosa Baring Arkwright and this affair produced a daughter Vera.  Vera's mother Rosa, of the influential banking family Barings, wanted out of a loveless marriage and secured her divorce after the birth of this child. But Prince Adolphus was already married and thus Rosa was married off to a royal relative for respectability.  So Vera grew up as the recognized child of a royal. She lived a glittering, if bohemian lifestyle, friend to the Duke of Westminster, Winston Churchill and other luminaries of the time. But her real claim to fame came when she volunteered as a nurse in WW1 and becamse friendly with fellow nurse Coco Chanel.

Coco and Vera formed a close friendship and Coco was shrewd enough to realize that Vera opened the doors to English society to her. Vera became Chanel's business manager. Together they conceived the idea of the blending of masculine and feminine in haute couture. They borrowed tweed jackets from the Duke of Westminster and even used Queen Mary's jewels to accessorize the outfits.

So why I am so fascinated with all this? Because my heroine, Lady Georgiana, goes to the Riviera in her next book. In my research I looked up who might have been on the Riviera that summer and learned about Coco Chanel and Vera Bate Lombardi and their fashion show and the queen's jewels. Too good to ignore for a mystery writer. And so this book will include fact more outlandish than fiction. That's the fun of research.  Oh, and the book is called Naughty in Nice. It's out September 6th.

Yeah, New Cover is up.

I noticed today that my new cover for the next Lady Georgie book, Naughty in Nice, is now up on Amazon and the book is available for pre-order. I'll try and put a sample up on my website so that you can check it out, but I'll say in advance that it will be a lot of fun--Riviera, casinos, Coco Chanel, blue Med and smoulderingly handsome Frenchmen. What more could you want?

And what do you think of the cover?