Paris Was a Woman: Portraits from the Left Bank

There was a greatness there in these women, in that time. They loved Paris and France and the freedom and the people they met there. They came alive living and loving in a city that seemed to inspire them to certain greatness. Poets, writers, artists their talents ran the gamut of art. For some, their fame was brief - Bryher, H.D. even Djuna Barnes are mere footnotes now if they noted at all. Others, Natalie Barney, Dolly Wilde are notorious for Who they were ..not What they actually did. Janet Flanner and Mina Loy are names that some might dimly recall. And there is Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas, who came to personify 'the special relationship' that bound them so tightly together. The specialness of this book is the use of so much 'private' writing - what they wrote and thought of each other in their own words. The writing is brilliant introspective provocative and sometimes banal. Gertrude wanted to be published, Thelma loved Djuna years after their breakup and Janet managed to stay friends with everyone. There are many photos as well, lavishly illustrated is not an understatement here. If there is a quibble, a minor one, the book is all too short, I wished it had been longer. Shari Benstock's "Women of the Left Bank' is a more in-depth look at the same women and time, tho with a stronger emphasis on the sexual nature of the relationships. But this is a well written and very readable book. Update. I have now seen the movie 'Paris was a Woman' I would recommend both as companion pieces.But I would read the book before I saw the movie.

Profusely illustrated and painstakingfully researched, this book is an enlightening account of women who between wars found their self and their own voice in Paris. Though mostly concerned with the stories of lesbian or bisexual women such as Colette, Gertrude Stein, Alice Toklas, Sylvia Beach, Djuna Barnes and Natalie Barney who came to the City of Light attracted by an aura of unbridled freedom missing in their places of origin, this book will appeal to all those who are interested in this fascinating early period of the twentieth century as well.