Scandalous Women

Over the weekend, I went with friends to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While we were there, I took the opportunity to go through the China: Through the Looking Glass exhibit again (I discovered that I’d completely missed two whole floors of the exhibit). Once again, I was drawn to the section of the exhibit dealing with Anna May Wong (1905-1961) who was the first Chinese American movie star. Along with her costume from Limehouse Blues, the exhibit featured dresses that were inspired by dresses that Anna May had worn in her films, along with clips of several of her movies including Toll of the Sea , one of the first Technicolor films, Shanghai Express with Marlene Dietrich (one of her best remembered films), and Limehouse Blues where George Raft unfortunately cast as Asian.  Even with the sound off, Anna May Wong is so vibrant and alive in these clips, particularly the scenes from Toll of the Sea (1922) which is based on Madame Butterfly. The film and Anna May’s performance seem...

It's been awhile since I posted but also since I've done a Book of the Month post. This month I have two great books to tell you about:  Hissing Cousins by Marc Peyser and Timothy Dwyer and Model Woman by Robert Lacey. Hissing Cousins was published by Penguin Random House at the end of March. I've slowly been dipping into the book thanks to Net Galley.  If you watched the recent Ken Burns documentary on The Roosevelts on PBS than you will definitely want to read this book. It gives the readers a more upclose and personal view on the relationship between Eleanor and Alice and also the dynamics between the Oyster Bay Roosevelts and the Hyde Park Roosevelts. ABOUT  HISSING COUSINS:  A lively and provocative double biography of first cousins Eleanor Roosevelt and Alice Roosevelt Longworth, two extraordinary women whose tangled lives provide a sweeping look at the twentieth century.   W hen Theodore Roosevelt became president in 1901, his beautiful and flamboyant dau...

So sorry that it has taken me this long to announce the winner of the Giveaway but family drama, and snow etc. meant that instead of posting on Valentine's Day (was my plan), I am announcing the winner of The Rebel Queen giveaway today: Stephanie Grant Congratulations Stephanie.  I will be emailing you to get your address.

Scandalous Women is pleased to have a guest post by author Michelle Moran .  Her new book The Rebel Queen about  Queen Lakshmi—India’s Joan of Arc—who against all odds defied the mighty British invasion to defend her beloved kingdom, will be published March 3rd. With every book I write, I discover something about the culture I’m researching which completely blows me away, often because it’s so unusual and something I’ve never encountered before. In the case of my book, REBEL QUEEN, set in India during the British invasion, the concept of Janam Kundlis struck a chord with me, particularly since Janam Kundlis very nearly played a role in my own life and my marriage to my husband, who is Indian. Also known as an astrological chart, a Janam Kundli is made by a priest for each child in India. No one is sure when the concept of a Janam Kundli came to be, but as Vedic astrology is several thousand years old, it’s not surprising that my protagonist’s Janam Kundli would have looked sim...

Title:  Rodin’s Lover Author:  Heather Webb (Becoming Josephine) Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group Publication date: 1/27/2015 Pages: 320 How Acquired:  Through Publisher What it’s about:  As a woman, aspiring sculptor Camille Claudel has plenty of critics, especially her ultra-traditional mother. But when Auguste Rodin makes Camille his apprentice—and his muse—their passion inspires groundbreaking works. Yet, Camille’s success is overshadowed by her lover’s rising star, and her obsessions cross the line into madness. My thoughts:    I initially had trepidations about reading this book. I did a great deal of research on Camille Claudel for the chapter that I wrote in Scandalous Women , and I feel a bit proprietary about her. She was one of several women that I was just obsessed with.  I related to her struggle to be an independent artist, to forge a separate artistic identity from the man that she loved passionately. Her mental breakdown is heartbre...

Anyone who has read this blog over the years knows how I feel about Marie Antoinette.  I've been fascinated with the doomed Queen ever since I discovered that she and I share a birthday.  Over the years, I have amassed a wealth of books about Marie.  One year, I even went to see Sophia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette for our birthday. If there is a movie or a book that has even the slightest connection to Marie Antoinette, I will read it.  This has led me to the mostly wretched film The Affair of the Necklace with Hilary Swank as well as the YA novel Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer which came out almost two years ago.  After two hundred years, you would think that the subject of her life had been exhausted, but you would be wrong! Two new books are coming out about Marie Antoinette next year. And good news, Sony Pictures has bought the rights to Juliet Grey's novel Becoming Marie Antoinette, which will hopefully be coming to a theatre near you in the next few...

Vanessa and Her Sister – Priya Parmar Print Length: 368 pages Publisher: Ballantine Books (December 30, 2014) Acquired through:  Net Galley My thoughts:  I read Priya Parmar’s first book EXIT THE ACTRESS when it came out in 2011, and was bowled over by her talent.  Yes, I had a few quibbles with her portrayal of Nell Gwynn (I had a hard time believing that she was illiterate and somehow never learned to read during her years as an actress. I found that a little far-fetched), but I thought the book was an excellent peek backstage at what it was like to be an actress during the Restoration.  You could just smell the greasepaint and the unwashed flesh! When I saw on Net Galley that she had written a new novel about Vanessa Bell and her sister Virginia Woolf, I immediately requested it.  Most of what I know about the Bloomsbury Group has been gained through watching films like Carrington (Emma Thompson brilliant as always as Dora Carrington and Jonathan Pryce as Lyt...