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‘Tis the season of Coco Chanel — in paperback and in film

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PX00046_9[1] Did you see Coco Before Chanel yet? Enchanting movie. (It's currently playing at the Enzian theater in Maitland.)

Next up is Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, the French film that was chosen as the Closing Film of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. It picks up (more-or-less) where Coco Before Chanel left off. That's Chanel, left, in her studio in 1954.

The Coco/Igor film is based on the 2002 novel Coco & Igor by Chris Greenhalgh. It traces the affair between Coco Chanel and Russian composer Igor Stravinsky in Paris in 1920, the year Chanel No. 5 perfume was created. I've just finished reading a review copy of the novel in paperback (Riverhead Trade Paperback original, $15), which hits the bookstores on Dec. 1.

PX00175_9[1] If the movie is anything like the book, it's pretty steamy stuff. I can see why it was a sensation at Cannes!

If you're a fan of fashion in general or Chanel in particular, or of classical music in general or Stravinsky in particular, or you simply enjoy historical novels, this is a good read. I especially enjoyed the insights into the creation of Chanel no. 5, long one of my favorite fragrances.

Neither Chanel nor Stravinsky comes off as a particularly nice person in the novel. They conduct their affair in her chateau, under the very noses of his wife, who is dying of consumption, and their four children. Their liaison is further complicated by the demands of their work — her couture creations, his music.

It's a "warts and all" kind of book, messy but exhilarating, fascinating and repulsive.

I recommend reading it for itself, and also as great background for the upcoming film adaptation.


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