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Day 24: Coco & Igor ~Romance, Chanel No. 5, and Exile.

Day 24 in #BookSpine365. Visit a title a day from my bookshelf.

Coco Chanel and composer Igor Stravinsky. Their love affair inspired their art. Their art defined an era. 

First time novelist Chris Greenhalgh introduces the title as hot, steamy, and romantic, but the title develops into something far more richer. The setting is 1915 Paris, a time of musical revolution and the reinvention of self. There, Coco becomes much more in this modernization including the classic Chanel  No.5---fighting through old ways and using her designs all while having a deep affair from an exiled man questioning if the relationship can survive at all. If someone wants a pure bio approach to Coco, this book isn't for you. After all, the title sums it pretty nicely: it's all about the affair, the secrets, the passion, the desires and the yearning for what cannot be. 
We only delve a little into what Coco truly was on this title, which is quite disappointing. The woman chasing man/man chasing woman and unaquired romance plot has been done numerous times, especially in the cases of famous people. We want to know their love lives. It's as simple as that. Especially if it was a hot and steamy love affair and it wasn't supposed to occur in the first place. It's a story that should be told, unequivocally. I do believe the author told it on up his best voice possible, albeit a little too airy or frou-frou for my literary taste. Worth the read? Absolutely. Great tale. My copy is a bit torn at the top. The book smell is starting to set in, and the page thickness is just right. Titled spine, motion picture photography cover. This a trade paperback copy. 





Book Details
Author: Chris Greenhalgh
Format: Fiction. Trade paperback. 7.8 x 5 x 1 inches, 9.6 ounces. 336 pages. 
Contents: title page, half title page, dedication, chronology, acknowledgements, epigraph. book design by Tiffany Estreicher. ©2009 Greenhalgh, C. Published by Riverhead Books. 

-brrivera

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