G440 E-Reading La Belle Créole: The Cuban Countess Who Captivated Havana, Madrid, and Paris
Title of the book: La Belle Créole: The Cuban Countess Who Captivated Havana, Madrid, and Paris Author: Alina García-Lapuerta Publisher: Chicago Review Press Publishing Date: 2014 ISBN: 9781613745366 Summary: Known for her beauty and angelic voice, Mercedes Santa Cruz y Montalvo, la Belle Créole, was a Cuban-born star of nineteenth-century Parisian society. She befriended aristocrats and artists alike, including Balzac, Baron de Rothschild, Rossini, and the opera diva La Malibran. A daughter of the creole aristocracy, Mercedes led a tumultuous life, leaving her native Havana as a teenager to join her mother in the heart of Madrid’s elite society. As Napoleon swept Spain into the Peninsular War, Mercedes’ family remained at the center of the storm, and her marriage to French general Christophe-Antoine Merlin tied her fortunes to France. Arriving in Paris in the aftermath of the French defeat, she re-created her life, ultimately hosting the city’s ...