The Riviera Set

Glitz, Glamour, and the Hidden World of High Society

By: Mary S. Lovell

Narrated by: Jill Rolls

The Riviera Set reveals the story of the group of people who lived, partied, bed-hopped, and politicked at the Château de l'Horizon near Cannes, over the course of 40 years from the time when Coco Chanel made southern French tans fashionable in the twenties to the death of the playboy Prince Aly Khan in 1960.

At the heart of dynamic group was the amazing Maxine Elliott, the daughter of a fisherman from Connecticut, who built the beautiful art deco Château and brought together the likes of Noel Coward, the Aga Khan, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and two very saucy courtesans, Doris Castlerosse and Daisy Fellowes, who set out to be dangerous distractions to Winston Churchill as he worked on his journalism and biographies during his "wilderness years" in the 30s. After the War the story continued as the Château changed hands and Prince Aly Khan used it to entertain the Hollywood set, as well as launch his seduction of and eventual marriage to Rita Hayworth.

Bringing a bygone era back to life, Mary Lovell cements her spot as one of our top social historians in this captivating and evocative new book.

©2017 Mary Lovell (P)2018 Tantor

Beautifully Researched

Enjoyed listening to this very much! Part history, part how the rich lived in the 30's and 40's, the jet set crowd at Chateau L'Horizon and its history. Well worth the listen. Great narration too! Deserves the 5 stars all around!

very good

informative and interesting read. A lot of time was focused however on Winston Churchills presence

eye opening

it's interesting how some "dynasties" live off taxpayer money. also how all "world leaders" seem to be "in bed" with one another.

A gem of a book with so many hidden jewels.

Great listen .. really enjoyed the second half. Very accurate.. Any Churchill fan would really enjoy. Well done

Most enjoyable

Since I’d not heard of Maxime Elliot before and have been fascinated by French history particularly WWI & WWII and all the illustrious colorful luminaries I found this book very very interesting informative and entertaining. Miss Elliot was quite a personality, most definitely Belle epoque and old school Franco / British. I highly recommend this listen.

The rich history it covered.

the narrator's voice and pronunciations made it difficult to hear and understand sometimes. But it's only with the names and places that were foreign to me. To read the book would probably change that.

Fizzled half way thru

I thought the First half of the book was interesting, second half not so much.

Delightful

Such an excellent read. Told with a sympathetic ear, it perfectly captures the golden era of the Côte d’Azur. A delight from beginning to end.

Riviera Set

I was disappointed in the narrator. Her reading was not very inspirational and the fact that she could not keep track of pronunciations, for example Mrs. Churchill's first name was occasionally Clementine, and other times Clementeen, was distracting to say the least.

Of Times Gone...

Nice summary of the life on the French Riviera of the ultra rich and hangers-on between World War I and about 1960. English aristocracy in the earlier years and celebrities later on. Unfortunately, the narrator was lacking. The intonation was so repetitive that the text got boring.