Allure of Chanel (Illustrated)

Paul Morand was born in Paris in 1888. After studying at the École des Sciences Politiques he joined the diplomatic corps, serving in London, Rome, Berne and Bucharest. Tender Shoots, his first collection of stories, was introduced by Marcel Proust. In a long and busy life, he found time to write poetry, novels, short stories and travel books. Morand was made a member of the Académie Française in 1963 and died in 1976, the year the first edition of The Allure of Chanel was published in Paris. His books The Man in a Hurry, Hecate and Her Dogs, Tender Shoots and Venices are also published by Pushkin Press.

This enchanting, tiny book is the closest anyone can get to a face-to-face with Coco. It's written in her voice and in her words, and though it's full of lies, omissions and contradictions, there's enough raw truth in it to reflect the extraordinary woman who was Chanel, even though glimpsed shard by shard in a broken mirror