I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.
Set in Paris during the Belle Epoque, Emilienne by Pamela Binnings Ewen is the story of one of the great courtesans of the age, Emilienne d’Alençon.
It is a rags-to-riches story. Emilienne was born to a prostitute in Montmartre, but escapes by running away from her abusive mother to make a life for herself as a dancer with the top Parisian shows. One of the most beautiful women in Paris and an accomplished flirt, she loves to dance and thrives on the attention. Before long, she is maintaining her lifestyle by entertaining wealthy gentlemen.
Throughout most of the book, things come very easily to Emilienne. There is little apparent struggle and almost no conflict. The men are generous. The women are friendly and cooperate rather than compete. Emilienne rides high. She does experience a personal tragedy when a nobleman she is involved with is torn away by his controlling mother. But while she regrets this loss all her life, she moves on and rebuilds her career with no real difficulty.
It’s only in the later years, when her beauty is fading and she is no longer sought out by the dance halls, that her life begins to lose its luster. She needs to find a new way to live. Or at least a new man to love.
The setting is an interesting one. Emilienne is a real historical person and her life intersected with other high-flying Parisians of the times. However, the novel dances only lightly over Emilienne’s rise to fame and gives the impression that there was no hardship involved, except for some rare brief hunger pains. There is none of the expected grit. The story has a fairytale quality that made me wish for more depth.
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