Proust's Duchess: How Three Celebrated Women Captured the Imagination of Fin-de-Siecle Paris

The Duchesses of Paris is a captivating exploration into the lives of three extraordinary women who transformed themselves into living legends in fin-de-siècle Parisian high society.

Through intimate details, the book reveals their daily lives, masked balls, hunts, dinners, court visits, nights at the opera or theater, and the loneliness, rigid social rules, and loveless, arranged marriages that constricted their lives.

The author takes the reader into these women's lives with a rich historical backdrop, shedding light on the creativity they inspired in several generations of writers, visual artists, composers, designers, and journalists.

As a twenty-year-old law student in 1892, Proust worshiped them from afar, later meeting them and creating his celebrated composite character for The Remembrance of Things Past.

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the glittering world of turn-of-the-century Paris and the fascinating lives of these three women who lived beyond their time.