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Mademoiselle Chanel
(OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen)

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Published:
HarperAudio 2015
Status:
Checked Out
Description

For readers of The Paris Wife and Z comes this vivid novel full of drama, passion, tragedy, and beauty that stunningly imagines the life of iconic fashion designer Coco Chanel—the ambitious, gifted laundrywoman's daughter who revolutionized fashion, built an international empire, and become one of the most influential and controversial figures of the twentieth century.

Born into rural poverty, Gabrielle Chanel and her siblings are sent to orphanage after their mother's death. The sisters nurture Gabrielle's exceptional sewing skills, a talent that will propel the willful young woman into a life far removed from the drudgery of her childhood.

Transforming herself into Coco—a seamstress and sometime torch singer—the petite brunette burns with ambition, an incandescence that draws a wealthy gentleman who will become the love of her life. She immerses herself in his world of money and luxury, discovering a freedom that sparks her creativity. But it is only when her lover takes her to Paris that Coco discovers her destiny.

Rejecting the frilly, corseted silhouette of the past, her sleek, minimalist styles reflect the youthful ease and confidence of the 1920s modern woman. As Coco's reputation spreads, her couturier business explodes, taking her into rarefied society circles and bohemian salons. But her fame and fortune cannot save her from heartbreak as the years pass. And when Paris falls to the Nazis, Coco is forced to make choices that will haunt her.

An enthralling novel of an extraordinary woman who created the life she desired, Mademoiselle Chanel explores the inner world of a woman of staggering ambition whose strength, passion and artistic vision would become her trademark.

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Format:
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen
Edition:
Unabridged
Street Date:
03/17/2015
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780062373786
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Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

C. W. Gortner. (2015). Mademoiselle Chanel. Unabridged HarperAudio.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

C. W. Gortner. 2015. Mademoiselle Chanel. HarperAudio.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

C. W. Gortner, Mademoiselle Chanel. HarperAudio, 2015.

MLA Citation (style guide)

C. W. Gortner. Mademoiselle Chanel. Unabridged HarperAudio, 2015.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
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Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Jun 12, 2018 15:29:47
Date Updated:
Jun 12, 2018 15:29:47
Last Metadata Check:
Mar 24, 2024 06:48:39
Last Metadata Change:
Jun 04, 2023 07:43:19
Last Availability Check:
Mar 24, 2024 06:48:42
Last Availability Change:
Feb 21, 2024 22:57:12
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Mar 29, 2024 02:17:20

OverDrive Product Record

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title
Mademoiselle Chanel
fullDescription

For readers of The Paris Wife and Z comes this vivid novel full of drama, passion, tragedy, and beauty that stunningly imagines the life of iconic fashion designer Coco Chanel—the ambitious, gifted laundrywoman's daughter who revolutionized fashion, built an international empire, and become one of the most influential and controversial figures of the twentieth century.

Born into rural poverty, Gabrielle Chanel and her siblings are sent to orphanage after their mother's death. The sisters nurture Gabrielle's exceptional sewing skills, a talent that will propel the willful young woman into a life far removed from the drudgery of her childhood.

Transforming herself into Coco—a seamstress and sometime torch singer—the petite brunette burns with ambition, an incandescence that draws a wealthy gentleman who will become the love of her life. She immerses herself in his world of money and luxury, discovering a freedom that sparks her creativity. But it is only when her lover takes her to Paris that Coco discovers her destiny.

Rejecting the frilly, corseted silhouette of the past, her sleek, minimalist styles reflect the youthful ease and confidence of the 1920s modern woman. As Coco's reputation spreads, her couturier business explodes, taking her into rarefied society circles and bohemian salons. But her fame and fortune cannot save her from heartbreak as the years pass. And when Paris falls to the Nazis, Coco is forced to make choices that will haunt her.

An enthralling novel of an extraordinary woman who created the life she desired, Mademoiselle Chanel explores the inner world of a woman of staggering ambition whose strength, passion and artistic vision would become her trademark.

reviews
      • premium: True
      • source: AudioFile Magazine
      • content: Few fashion icons shine as brightly as Coco Chanel, and this audiobook explores the origins of that sparkle. Rebecca Gibel narrates with a reverent tone, making each detail a kind of celebration of Chanel's legendary life and art. The audiobook begins modestly: Young Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel's mother dies, leaving her children alone and desperate. Gibel makes all voices believable without being cloying, capturing the drama of every situation with her clear pronunciation and pretty snippets of French. Sometimes that drama may seem overwrought, but this is, after all, a story about a remarkable personal history, so those moments can be forgiven. This audiobook makes a great listen for that summertime beach read or long road trip. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        January 12, 2015
        The formidable task of telling the rags-to-riches story of fashion doyenne Coco Chanel is almost pulled off in this lengthy book by historical novelist Gortner (The Tudor Vendetta). We learn of her father who abandoned his five children, that Gabrielle Chanel’s first entry into fashion was as a milliner, how she came to be called “Coco,” the birth of the Chanel logo, the origin of her famous perfume—named for test-sample bottle number five; and her creation of the famous “little black dress.” Here, too, are the legendary artists and politicians who peopled her fabulous life—Cocteau, Stravinsky, Picasso, Churchill, to name a few—as well as her tumultuous relationships with a handful of financially successful men. And then there is her life during the German occupation of France, living at the Ritz, no less, where she had a liaison with a high-ranking German officer (Hans Gunther von Dincklage) leaving some questions about the nature of her true sympathies during WWII. Despite the colossal amount of facts we have about Chanel’s life, we never get a real sense of the woman who turned fashion upside down in the 1920s, whether because the story is told in first person, or because the urgency to cover a voluminous amount of material leaves us with plenty of information but not enough heart and soul to get at the core of who this charismatic woman really was.

      • premium: True
      • source: Library Journal
      • content:

        January 1, 2015

        Gortner's (The Tudor Vendetta) Coco Chanel is an innocent, unimpeachable in her intentions. The truly evil (jackbooted Nazis), nauseatingly insipid (every female in her family), or anarchically catty (the bohemians of Paris) force Chanel to make imperfect decisions in response to their failings, not from any character defect of her own. Why have an affair with a German officer? Not to enjoy creature comforts in a time of deprivation, oh no--but because it is her only option. Why take an interest in her nephew's fate? Because he is her sister's child--not because he is, as is believed by many, her own son. This self-delusion torpedoes Gortner's whitewashing of Chanel. In failing to acknowledge even in her thoughts the rumors Chanel certainly would've heard, the first-person omniscient narration is wasted. Someone so alienated from her own reasons for action hardly represents the expectations-defying icon that Chanel should prove to be. Instead, she is a figure of a fan fiction who is afraid of upsetting its long-dead subject. VERDICT Historical fiction readers looking for insight into World War II Paris should try Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, and nonfiction readers will get more nuanced insight from Ronald C. Rosbottom's When Paris Went Dark. [See Prepub Alert, 9/22/14.]--Nicole R. Steeves, Chicago P.L.

        Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

      • premium: True
      • source: Kirkus
      • content:

        January 1, 2015
        An admiring portrait of the designer who first modernized women's wear, told in the first person as she looks back over her life.Gabrielle Chanel came from humble beginnings: Her father, a peddler, abandoned his two sons and three daughters after their mother died, and she and her sisters were taken in by nuns. Eventually, an aunt offers the Chanel sisters a home, where they help with the family millinery business. Chanel soon tires of slaving in a shop and seeks her fortune as a cafe chanteuse with the stage name Coco. A wealthy lover, Balsan, launches her career in fashion: She designs hats for his friends, courtesans from the Paris demimonde. At a race track, she meets Arthur Capel, aka "Boy," who will prove to be the love of her life. With his help, she opens a Paris atelier. Departing from belle epoque corsets and bustles, Chanel's first designs, separates based on menswear with a neutral palette and a slim silhouette, catch on almost immediately with rich women in Paris, Deauville, Biarritz and beyond. Coco amasses great wealth and makes friends among the artistic elite of France, including Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso and Serge Diaghilev. After World War I, Boy dies in a car crash, and Coco becomes even more driven. She develops a scent, Chanel No. 5, derived from the signature perfume of the assassinated czarina of Russia, and signs a contract to distribute it worldwide. As more lovers, among them an impoverished Romanov and the Duke of Westminster, enter and depart her life, she builds a lavish house in southern France and enjoys a brief sojourn in Hollywood. In her 50s as World War II and the Nazi occupation of France loom, Coco ponders her legacy and her perennially single state. Though the book is well-written and historically accurate, dramatic tension would have been better served if the fictional Coco could have demonstrated a few more character flaws and human foibles rather than being so very competent in meeting every challenge. An homage to a couture icon whose influence is still powerful today.

        COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

      • premium: True
      • source: Booklist
      • content:

        February 15, 2015
        Gabrielle Coco Chanel comes to life in Gortner's tale inspired by the life of fashion's most famous name. Born into poverty and abandoned by her father, Gabrielle Chanel and her siblings spend their childhoods in an orphanage. Blessed with exceptional sewing skills and a drive to succeed, Gabrielle leaves the convent at 18 to become a seamstress by day and a dance-hall performer by night. She discovers a passion for millinery, which propels her into the world of luxury and high fashion. When she meets the rich and powerful Etienne Balsan, Coco finds the freedom to pursue her creative interests. But it is her relationship with Arthur Boy Capel that turns her minimalist hat designs into an international couturier business. Detailing a life spent among the most influential people of the time, the story of Coco Chanel takes readers through some of the most powerful moments in world history, all seen through the eyes of one of the most influential designers of the twentieth century. Gortner (The Tudor Vendetta, 2014) brings history to life in a fascinating study of one woman's unstoppable ambition.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

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For readers of The Paris Wife and Z comes this vivid novel full of drama, passion, tragedy, and beauty that stunningly imagines the life of iconic fashion designer Coco Chanel—the ambitious, gifted laundrywoman's daughter who revolutionized fashion, built an international empire, and become one of the most influential and controversial figures of the twentieth century.

Born into rural poverty, Gabrielle Chanel and her siblings are sent to orphanage after their mother's death. The sisters nurture Gabrielle's exceptional sewing skills, a talent that will propel the willful young woman into a life far removed from the drudgery of her childhood.

Transforming herself into Coco—a seamstress and sometime torch singer—the petite brunette burns with ambition, an incandescence that draws a wealthy gentleman who will become the love of her life. She immerses herself in his world of money and luxury, discovering a freedom that sparks her creativity. But it is...

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