ashyoung555's review against another edition
5.0
I have always been fascinated by the lives of the courtesans in 19th century France, so I knew this biography would be interesting to me, but I didn't anticipate exactly how engaging it would be. While the author does seem to make a lot of assumptions of Valtesse's personal motivations, this biography is backed by a great amount of research and I feel like it was informed by a deep understanding of who this woman was and what she achieved.
This book depicts Valtesse as a businesswoman, passionate, intelligent and quick-witted. In her prime, she commanded every person she met and space she occupied, and lived in luxury after emptying the pockets of wealthy men - artists, writers, military, nobility - in exchange for her companionship. The whole concept of these women being courtesans for a living is so fascinating to me, as is the social climate of that time, and this biography scratched that itch completely. I felt like I was swept into Valtesse's Paris, and I got a real taste of what her life might have been like.
Overall, this was an exceptionally rewarding reading experience. The Mistress of Paris is so engaging, written and structured so well, and I thoroughly recommend it if you're intrigued by Paris' social scene in the 19th century, and how the courtesans made the city their own.
I haven't read much else about the courtesans yet, or 19th century France, and I'm sure my experience of this book would be different if I had, but purely for enjoyment and curiosity's sake, this was a 5 star read for me. Valtesse was truly remarkable.
This book depicts Valtesse as a businesswoman, passionate, intelligent and quick-witted. In her prime, she commanded every person she met and space she occupied, and lived in luxury after emptying the pockets of wealthy men - artists, writers, military, nobility - in exchange for her companionship. The whole concept of these women being courtesans for a living is so fascinating to me, as is the social climate of that time, and this biography scratched that itch completely. I felt like I was swept into Valtesse's Paris, and I got a real taste of what her life might have been like.
Overall, this was an exceptionally rewarding reading experience. The Mistress of Paris is so engaging, written and structured so well, and I thoroughly recommend it if you're intrigued by Paris' social scene in the 19th century, and how the courtesans made the city their own.
I haven't read much else about the courtesans yet, or 19th century France, and I'm sure my experience of this book would be different if I had, but purely for enjoyment and curiosity's sake, this was a 5 star read for me. Valtesse was truly remarkable.
shelfquest's review against another edition
4.0
The fascinating story of how Valtesse de la Bigne worked her way up the most successful courtesan of her time from complete poverty. To be a high-class courtesan, you had to be more than just good in bed. One had to master conversation by being well-versed, well-read, and educated so that you could be taken to public events and not embarrass your date. What Valtesse overcame is admirable for her time and she shared her wealth by being a patron of the arts. I listened to the audiobook and highly recommend it.
luzbella's review against another edition
3.0
I am a big fan of historical fiction and this looked like something I would enjoy. Sadly, the book droned on...I found the story dragged and was repetitive.
rubenstein's review against another edition
4.0
I’m a huge non-fic fan – especially when it comes to audio – and I was more than happy with this one. If biographies of fascinating, self-made women are your thing, look no further.
For the mini review and more, head over to The Pretty Good Gatsby!
For the mini review and more, head over to The Pretty Good Gatsby!
micaelabrody's review against another edition
3.0
Leave it to me to complain about art first thing, but the thing that most annoyed me about this book was that in the glossy art pages, the portrait by Jacquet (I think) was nowhere to be found, despite how often it was mentioned in the book. If you’re going to read about the same piece over and over, it’s annoying to not see it.
And, “over and over” was kind of how the whole book was. I understand why it was long - a relatively long life deserves its due page count - but so much of her long life was repetitive. That’s just how real life is, but even a faithful biography has to be edited; after the fifth repetition of how she gossiped to her advantage, acquired beautiful art, intentionally maintained mystery, I started to find my attention wandering frequently. (Especially because I couldn’t tell if this repetition was unique to how she maintained power or if it was just because lives, or courtesans’ lives in particular?, were repetitive.)
Exacerbating this is how fast the author glossed over major political events. I get that as a courtesan, even a politically connected one, she didn’t have any real power in many of these events, and when she did it was covered, but this is one of those books that kind of tries to make its subject Indicative Of The Times, and giving short shrift to The Times makes her repeating pattern of life, well, more boring. I would rather read about her powerlessness, even if it didn’t flatter her, than another story of a client admiring her fancy bed.
The clearest example of this was the Dreyfuss Affair. While I obviously have somewhat of a vested interest here, I think this was a missed opportunity because of the key players. Emile Zola was mentioned so often and prominently in the first half of the book with his writing of Nana that his contribution to the Dreyfuss Affair was notably missing - J’Accuse was a major point of that event in history and if the book posited that part of what made Valtesse important was consorting with the political and historical elite of Paris, this would go a long way to bringing that point home.
I grant some of this may be my own still-middling feelings about nonfiction, which even as my appetite grows is always kind of on the fence. In fact, in fact-checking this post I spotted mostly wonderful reviews of this book, which leads me to believe I still have a lower tolerance for some of the things that are inherent in nonfiction than I thought. However, no matter my boredom with the prose, the recitation of art pieces, the avoidance of any subject that made Valtesse seem weak or unlikable, the woman in question was a fascinating figure. It’s just that the book mainly felt like it couldn’t decide what to do about her: provide an example of the life of a courtesan in 19th century Paris? or show how this unique courtesan broke the mold?
And, “over and over” was kind of how the whole book was. I understand why it was long - a relatively long life deserves its due page count - but so much of her long life was repetitive. That’s just how real life is, but even a faithful biography has to be edited; after the fifth repetition of how she gossiped to her advantage, acquired beautiful art, intentionally maintained mystery, I started to find my attention wandering frequently. (Especially because I couldn’t tell if this repetition was unique to how she maintained power or if it was just because lives, or courtesans’ lives in particular?, were repetitive.)
Exacerbating this is how fast the author glossed over major political events. I get that as a courtesan, even a politically connected one, she didn’t have any real power in many of these events, and when she did it was covered, but this is one of those books that kind of tries to make its subject Indicative Of The Times, and giving short shrift to The Times makes her repeating pattern of life, well, more boring. I would rather read about her powerlessness, even if it didn’t flatter her, than another story of a client admiring her fancy bed.
The clearest example of this was the Dreyfuss Affair. While I obviously have somewhat of a vested interest here, I think this was a missed opportunity because of the key players. Emile Zola was mentioned so often and prominently in the first half of the book with his writing of Nana that his contribution to the Dreyfuss Affair was notably missing - J’Accuse was a major point of that event in history and if the book posited that part of what made Valtesse important was consorting with the political and historical elite of Paris, this would go a long way to bringing that point home.
I grant some of this may be my own still-middling feelings about nonfiction, which even as my appetite grows is always kind of on the fence. In fact, in fact-checking this post I spotted mostly wonderful reviews of this book, which leads me to believe I still have a lower tolerance for some of the things that are inherent in nonfiction than I thought. However, no matter my boredom with the prose, the recitation of art pieces, the avoidance of any subject that made Valtesse seem weak or unlikable, the woman in question was a fascinating figure. It’s just that the book mainly felt like it couldn’t decide what to do about her: provide an example of the life of a courtesan in 19th century Paris? or show how this unique courtesan broke the mold?
jenn9621's review against another edition
2.0
The historical aspects of this book were the only things that kept me reading it. You would think that a story about a 19th century courtesan would be interesting but it was incredibly tedious. Instead of coming to understand the character of the subject or given a view of any criticism of her, it feels as if this is a book report. It was almost as if the author had interviewed this narcissistic person and just wrote down every glowing thing she said about herself. She apparently did no wrong, was as close to perfection as possible and was instrumental to French society and politics. And while I support the “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” idea, and I don’t think it is impossible that she made something of herself, she was essentially a poor, uneducated prostitute and some of it seemed difficult to believe, and definitely one sided.
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