Photograph: Alamy
When the Comtesse Valtesse de la Bigne died in 1910, at the age of 62, she left behind a grand house filled with paintings, antiques and objets d’art: the trappings of her career as one of the most successful courtesans in France. What she had also managed to conceal were her unprepossessing origins as Louise Delabigne, the illegitimate daughter of a prostitute who grew up in poverty. Thanks to a mixture of beauty and intelligence, she enraptured – and scandalised – French society, counting the likes of Manet and Zola as part of her circle. Catherine Hewitt’s debut biography is a mostly successful attempt at placing Valtesse in the wider context of her turbulent age. It might have done with another edit – the word “glittering” is overused and there is a pervasive sense of material overstretched, especially towards the end – but at its best this is an enthralling story, told with both conviction and sympathy.
The Mistress of Paris is published by Icon Books (£20). Click here to buy it for £16
