MADEMOISELLE Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History

As Tavia Gilbert leads the listener through Coco Chanel’s countless alliances and conquests, she reveals Coco’s driving ambition and eccentricities. A dominant and colorful influence in twentieth-century fashion, Chanel has already been the subject of numerous biographies, but Garelick delivers historical context to render this account worthwhile. Gilbert elegantly portrays the multitude of Chanel’s wealthy lovers and financial backers, ranging from the Duke of Westminster to a Nazi officer. Gilbert’s smooth pronunciation of French names is melodic but understandable to the American listener, and her consistent pace carries through the author’s complex comparisons of Chanel’s relationships to the politics of her time. Gilbert’s vibrant narration almost—but not quite—compensates for the absence of the print edition’s photographs. N.M.C. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2015]