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La Belle Créole : the Cuban countess who captivated Havana, Madrid, and Paris / Alina Garcia-Lapuerta.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- García-Lapuerta, Alina, author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Merlin, María de las Mercedes Santa Cruz y Montalvo, comtesse de, 1789-1852.
- Merlin, María de las Mercedes Santa Cruz y Montalvo.
- Countesses--Spain--Biography.
- Countesses.
- Countesses--Cuba--Biography.
- Socialites--France--Paris--Biography.
- Socialites.
- Spain--Court and courtiers--Biography.
- Spain.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (333 p.)
- Edition:
- First edition.
- Place of Publication:
- 2014.
- Chicago, Illinois : Chicago Review Press, 2014.
- Language Note:
- English
- Summary:
- The adventurous woman nicknamed La Belle Créole is brought to life in this book through the full use of her memoirs, contemporary accounts, and her intimate letters. The fascinating María de las Mercedes Santa Cruz y Montalvo, also known as Mercedes, and later the Comtesse Merlin, was a Cuban-born aristocrat who was years ahead of her time as a writer, a socialite, a salon host, and a participant in the Cuban slavery debate. Raised in Cuba and shipped off to live with her socialite mother in Spain at the age of 13, Mercedes triumphed over the political chaos that blanketed Europe in the Napole
- Contents:
- Front Cover; Front Flip; Title Page; Half Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Author's Note; Family Tree; Prologue; Part I: Cuba; 1. Havana: A City of Sea and Light; 2. Mercedes and Mamita; 3. Joaquín; 4. Behind the Convent Walls; 5. Adios, Cuba; Part II: Spain; 6. Madrid: Grandeur and Decay; 7. A Sense of Loss; 8. Treason, Hatred, Vengeance; 9. The Good Devils; 10. Adios, España; Part III: France; 11. Starting Over; 12. The Rise of La Belle Créole; 13. Romancing the Past; 14. The Literary Socialite; Part IV: Cuba, Spain, and France; 15. Daughter of Havana; 16. A Song for Havana
- 17. Finale: Adagio CantabileAcknowledgments; Notes; Selected Bibliography; Index; Back Flip; Back Cover
- Notes:
- Description based upon print version of record.
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Description based on print version record.
- ISBN:
- 1-61374-537-0
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