{"product_id":"9781250120663","title":"The Mistress of Paris: The 19th-Century Courtesan Who Built an Empire on a Secret","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCatherine Hewitt's \u003ci\u003eThe Mistress of Paris\u003c\/i\u003e is a fantastically readable biography of a nineteenth-century Parisian courtesan who harbored an incredible secret.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A gorgeous, smart, ambitious, hard-working, steely autodidact and businesswoman whose product was herself, Valtesse would be totally at home in our self-branding society.”\u003cb\u003e —\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eComtesse Valtesse de la Bigne was painted by Édouard Manet and inspired Émile Zola, who immortalized her in his scandalous novel \u003ci\u003eNana\u003c\/i\u003e. Her rumored affairs with Napoleon III and the future King Edward VII kept gossip columns full. But her glamorous existence hid a dark secret: she was no comtesse. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eValtesse was born into abject poverty, raised on a squalid backstreet among the dregs of Parisian society. Yet she transformed herself into an enchantress who possessed a small fortune, three mansions, fabulous carriages, and art the envy of connoisseurs across Europe. A consummate show-woman, she ensured that her life—and even her death—remained shrouded in just enough mystery to keep her audience hungry for more.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpectacularly evoking the sights and sounds of mid- to late nineteenth-century Paris in all its hedonistic glory, Catherine Hewitt’s biography tells, for the first time ever in English, the forgotten story of a remarkable woman who, though her roots were lowly, never stopped aiming high.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"St. Martin's Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47017905094896,"sku":"9781250120663","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781250120663_p0.jpg?v=1763702586","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781250120663","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}