Lucy Moore
Ladies Bountiful
The Riviera Set, 1920-1960: The Golden Years of Glamour and Excess
By Mary S Lovell
Little, Brown 434pp £25
Queen Bees: Six Brilliant and Extraordinary Society Hostesses between the Wars
By Siân Evans
Two Roads 405pp £25
When Maxine Elliott moved into her newly built Château de l’Horizon in 1932, she and her guests always dined outside by moonlight. For the nights when the moon did not oblige, Elliott constructed an alternative: a huge fake moon, set at the top of her highest tree, which could be switched on to provide electric moonlight when necessary.
The Riviera Set, 1920–1960 is the story not of Elliott but of her house near Cap d’Antibes, which she made into one of the most celebrated places on the Riviera, at least among a certain privileged set. Mary Lovell tells Elliott’s story wonderfully and it is fascinating to
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It wasn’t until 1825 that Pepys’s diary became available for the first time. How it was eventually decrypted and published is a story of subterfuge and duplicity.
Kate Loveman tells the tale.
Kate Loveman - Publishing Pepys
Kate Loveman: Publishing Pepys
literaryreview.co.uk
Arthur Christopher Benson was a pillar of the Edwardian establishment. He was supremely well connected. As his newly published diaries reveal, he was also riotously indiscreet.
Piers Brendon compares Benson’s journals to others from the 20th century.
Piers Brendon - Land of Dopes & Tories
Piers Brendon: Land of Dopes & Tories - The Benson Diaries: Selections from the Diary of Arthur Christopher Benson by Eamon Duffy & Ronald Hyam (edd)
literaryreview.co.uk
Of the siblings Gwen and Augustus John, it is Augustus who has commanded most attention from collectors and connoisseurs.
Was he really the finer artist, asks Tanya Harrod, or is it time Gwen emerged from her brother’s shadow?
Tanya Harrod - Cut from the Same Canvas
Tanya Harrod: Cut from the Same Canvas - Artists, Siblings, Visionaries: The Lives and Loves of Gwen and Augustus John by Judith Mackrell
literaryreview.co.uk