The Land of Desire: French History and Culture

“I liked murderers. I thought them interesting. Had not my grandfather been one when he killed the journalist? And my great-granduncle Napoleon, what a monumental murderer he was!” – Marie Bonaparte   Welcome back! After a long break to buy new soundproofing equipment – which may or may not have been successful – we’re back with a new miniseries. I’m excited, as I think we’re covering one of the most interesting subjects this show has ever covered: the heiress, philanthropist and pioneering psychoanalyst Marie Bonaparte. Naturally, if we’re going to discuss a pioneering child psychologist we have to go back to the beginning and tell the story of her family – and oh, what a family! Episode 71: “Marie, The Last Bonaparte” Marie Bonaparte’s family tree   Portrait of Lucien Bonaparte, great-grandfather of Marie Bonaparte Photograph of Pierre Bonaparte, grandfather of Marie Bonaparte Contemporary etching depicting Pierre Napoleon Bonaparte assassinating a journalist right in the middle of the parlor   Photograph of Princess Pierre Napoleon Bonaparte aka Nina!!!!   Portrait of Roland Bonaparte, father of Marie Bonaparte, in the dashing uniform which charmed Marie-Felix Blanc.     Sources: Bertin, Celia. Marie Bonaparte. Yale University Press, 1987. A. Bingham, ed., A Selection from the Letters and Dispatches of the First Napoleon, Vol. II (London, 1884), p. 207. Henri Bertrand, Napoleon at St. Helena: The Journals of General Bertrand, January-May 1821, deciphered and annotated by Paul Fleuriot de Langle, translated by Francis Hume (Garden City, 1952), p. 203. Bowley, A. L. “Comparison of the Changes in Wages in France, The United States, and the United Kingdom, From 1840 to 1891.” The Economic Journal, vol. 8, no. 32, [Royal Economic Society, Wiley], 1898, pp. 474–89, https://doi.org/10.2307/2957090. Walton, Jean. Fair Sex, Savage Dreams: Race, Psychoanalysis, Sexual Difference. Duke University Press, 2001, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv125jjq5. https://www.psicoanalisi.it/psicoanalisi/reflections-on-the-five-copybooks-of-marie-bonaparte/6478/ Subscribe to the newsletter Want more French history and pop culture in your life? Subscribe to the Land of Desire newsletter. The revamped newsletter comes in two flavors: free and paid. Free subscribers receive one newsletter per quarter; paid subscribers receive at least one newsletter per month. Subscribe to the newsletter here. Support the Show There are so many ways to support the show! First and foremost, sign up for a paid subscription to The Land of Desire newsletter or contribute via Patreon. If you’re a paid subscriber, chime in on our Substack discussion threads whenever a new newsletter is sent out!  But that’s not all: you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Until next time, au revoir! Join the Discussion Join our Substack discussions Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter (so many GIFs) Follow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live) The post 71. Marie Bonaparte, Part I appeared first on The Land of Desire.

What if it succeeds? Aloha from Hawaii! Your host is celebrating a lot of things right now: Bastille Day, the ability to travel responsibly, the birthday of a certain overworked and abused producer-intern, and oh yeah, the fifth anniversary of The Land of Desire!!! I’m celebrating by answering some excellent questions from you, dear listeners. Merci beaucoup. Episode 70: “Fifth Anniversary! Listener Q&A”   Sources: Y’all Subscribe to the newsletter Want more French history and pop culture in your life? Subscribe to the Land of Desire newsletter. The revamped newsletter comes in two flavors: free and paid. Free subscribers receive one newsletter per quarter; paid subscribers receive at least one newsletter per month. Subscribe to the newsletter here. Support the Show There are so many ways to support the show! First and foremost, sign up for a paid subscription to The Land of Desire newsletter or contribute via Patreon. If you’re a paid subscriber, chime in on our Substack discussion threads whenever a new newsletter is sent out!  But that’s not all: you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Until next time, au revoir! Join the Discussion Join our Substack discussions Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter (so many GIFs) Follow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live) The post 70. Fifth Anniversary! Listener Q&A appeared first on The Land of Desire.

“Here Albius fertilized vanilla.” – Tribute to Edmond Albius, Saint Suzanne, Réunion. We’re back! After a big move, which required the dismantling and relocation of the trusty recording studio (a.k.a. Diana’s closet), I’m excited to record in my new space!  Next month is the show’s sixth anniversary – I know, right?!! – and I’m asking YOU to submit questions for a special listener Q&A episode. You can contact me right here. Otherwise, send me a question on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter!  After my last episode about potatoes, I figured I’d follow up with a little dessert. Today, let’s learn about one of the most valuable and mysterious plants on earth, the dizzying journey it made from its native homeland to its most famous outpost, and the unlikely character who unlocked its secrets. This plant’s intoxicating flavor is so widely enjoyed, and so universally incorporated into dishes around the world, that its name has become a byword for the everyday and boring. This is extremely unfair, since we’re talking about one of the world’s most labor-intensive and delicate plants, the only edible orchid on earth. That’s right: this week, we’ll learn about the sultry secrets of vanilla. Episode 69: “The Boy Who Solved Vanilla”     Edmond Albius, the boy who unlocked vanilla Lithograph of Edmond Albius posing next to a vanilla vine. Edmond was given a copy of this lithograph, which he loved and shared with friends and family.   Tribute statue of Edmond Albius holding a vanilla flower, installed near the former site of Belle Vue plantation Watch “Edmond’s gesture” in action in this video of vanilla hand-pollination, still used for the production of essentially all commercial vanilla in the world. See the humble melipona bee, which naturally fertilizes vanilla plants in Mexico. Sources: Vanilla: Travels in Search of the Ice Cream Orchid, Tim Ecott. When Montezuma Met Cortés: The True Story of the Meeting That Changed History, Matthew Restall. Jean Gabriel Fouché, Laurent Jouve. Vanilla planifolia: history, botany and culture in Reunion island. Agronomie, EDP Sciences, 1999, 19 (8), pp.689-703. hal-00885962 Brixius, Dorit. “A Pepper acquiring Nutmeg: Pierre Poivre, The French Spice Quest and the Role of Mediators in Southeast Asia, 1740s to 1770s.” Journal of the Western Society for French History, vol. 43, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.0642292.0043.006 Brixius, Dorit. “From Ethnobotany to Emancipation: Slaves, Plant Knowledge, and Gardens on Eighteenth-Century Isle de France.” History of Science, vol. 58, no. 1, Mar. 2020, pp. 51–75, doi:10.1177/0073275319835431. Maverick, Lewis A. “Pierre Poivre: Eighteenth Century Explorer of Southeast Asia.” Pacific Historical Review, vol. 10, no. 2, 1941, pp. 165–177. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3633634. Accessed 23 June 2021. Subscribe to the newsletter Want more French history and pop culture in your life? Subscribe to the Land of Desire newsletter. The revamped newsletter comes in two flavors: free and paid. Free subscribers receive one newsletter per quarter; paid subscribers receive at least one newsletter per month. Subscribe to the newsletter here. Support the Show There are so many ways to support the show! First and foremost, sign up for a paid subscription to The Land of Desire newsletter or contribute via Patreon. If you’re a paid subscriber, chime in on our Substack discussion threads whenever a new newsletter is sent out!  But that’s not all: you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Until next time, au revoir! Join the Discussion Join our Substack discussions Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter (so many GIFs) Follow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live) The post 69. The Boy Who Solved Vanilla appeared first on The Land of Desire.

“The vegetable of the shack and the château.” – Le marquis de Cussy April showers bring May flowers – unless they bring floods, famine, and fear. This month, I’m looking at the moment in French history when farmers turned their nose up at the foods of the New World – until they realized what the potato had to offer. Antoine Parmentier, one of the great hype men of food history, features in this month’s episode all about the tastiest of tubers! Episode 68: “Antoine Parmentier & The History of the Potato”     Antoine Parmentier, “the apostle of the potato” Portrait of Antoine Parmentier holding wheat and potato blossoms   that moment when u run into the king and it’s potato blossom season Sources: The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History 1300-1850 – Brian Fagan De Moor, T. (2015). The Dilemma of the Commoners: Understanding the Use of Common-Pool Resources in Long-Term Perspective (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139135450 JONES, P.M. “Arthur Young (1741—1820): For and Against.” The English Historical Review, vol. 127, no. 528, 2012, pp. 1100–1120., www.jstor.org/stable/23272740. Accessed 29 Apr. 2021. Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century, Vol. I: The Structure of Everyday Life – Fernand Braudel “How the Potato Changed The World” Charles C. Mann, Smithsonian Magazine, November 2011. Nunn, Nathan, and Nancy Qian. “THE POTATO’S CONTRIBUTION TO POPULATION AND URBANIZATION: EVIDENCE FROM A HISTORICAL EXPERIMENT.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 126, no. 2, 2011, pp. 593–650. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23015685. Accessed 29 Apr. 2021. A Bite-Sized History of France: Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War, and Enlightenment – Stephane Hénaut & Jeni Mitchell Earle, Rebecca. “Promoting Potatoes in Eighteenth-Century Europe.” Eighteenth-Century Studies, vol. 51 no. 2, 2017, p. 147-162. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/ecs.2017.0057. Observations on such nutritive vegetables as may be substituted in the place of ordinary food, in times of scarcity – YA BOY, Antoine Parmentier “Starvation Stalks Europe” Erik Sass, Mental Floss, August 24, 2016. The Potato: How the Humble Spud Rescued the Western World – Larry Zuckerman The History and Social Influence of the Potato – Redcliffe N. Salaman Gráda, Cormac Ó., and Jean-Michel Chevet. “Famine and Market in Ancien Régime France.” The Journal of Economic History, vol. 62, no. 3, 2002, pp. 706–733. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3132553. Accessed 29 Apr. 2021. Grantham, George W. “The Persistence of Open-Field Farming in Nineteenth-Century France.” The Journal of Economic History, vol. 40, no. 3, 1980, pp. 515–531. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2120751. Accessed 29 Apr. 2021. Séguy, Isabelle, and Christine Théré. “Demography and Famine: A Pioneering Article.” Population (English Edition, 2002-), vol. 71, no. 3, 2016, pp. 541–545., www.jstor.org/stable/44135483. Accessed 29 Apr. 2021. Meuvret, Jean. “SUBSISTENCE CRISES AND THE DEMOGRAPHY OF FRANCE UNDER THE ANCIEN RÉGIME.” Population (English Edition, 2002-), vol. 71, no. 3, 2016, pp. 547–554., www.jstor.org/stable/44135484. Accessed 29 Apr. 2021. Nunn, Nathan, and Nancy Qian. “THE POTATO’S CONTRIBUTION TO POPULATION AND URBANIZATION: EVIDENCE FROM A HISTORICAL EXPERIMENT.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 126, no. 2, 2011, pp. 593–650. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23015685. Accessed 29 Apr. 2021. MCNEILL, WILLIAM H. “How the Potato Changed the World’s History.” Social Research, vol. 66, no. 1, 1999, pp. 67–83. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40971302. Accessed 29 Apr. 2021. Newell, William H. “The Agricultural Revolution in Nineteenth-Century France.” The Journal of Economic History, vol. 33, no. 4, 1973, pp. 697–731. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2116783. Accessed 29 Apr. 2021. Exceptionalism and Industrialisation: Britain and its European Rivals, 1688–1815 – Leandro Prados de la Escosura Subscribe to the newsletter Want more French history and pop culture in your life? Subscribe to the Land of Desire newsletter. The revamped newsletter comes in two flavors: free and paid. Free subscribers receive one newsletter per quarter; paid subscribers receive at least one newsletter per month. Subscribe to the newsletter here. Support the Show There are so many ways to support the show! First and foremost, sign up for a paid subscription to The Land of Desire newsletter or contribute via Patreon. If you’re a paid subscriber, chime in on our Substack discussion threads whenever a new newsletter is sent out!  But that’s not all: you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Until next time, au revoir! Join the Discussion Join our Substack discussions Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter (so many GIFs) Follow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live) The post 68. Antoine Parmentier & The History of the Potato appeared first on The Land of Desire.

“Proust n’a aime que deux personnes, sa mere et Celeste.” – Prince Antoine Bibesco\r\n\r\nWhat better way to “celebrate” a year of sheltering in place than a closer look at France’s most famous social distancer? This week, I’m looking at the curious relationship between the eccentric, reclusive writer, Marcel Proust, and his beloved housekeeper-confidant, Céleste Albaret. Together, the two hunkered down into a mostly nocturnal life of writing, collaborating, and remembering while the world outside became incomprehensible. It’s the ultimate experiment in working from home – if your Uber Eats came from the Hotel Ritz, that is!\r\n\r\nEpisode 66: “Marcel & Celeste, Part I”\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe Bedrooms of Marcel Proust\r\nMarcel Proust’s famous cork-lined bedroom\r\n \r\n\r\nIn Marcel Proust’s final apartment, scraps lined the walls at the time of his death.\r\nThe formidable Céleste Albaret\r\nBlack and white portrait of an elderly Celeste Albaret, around the time she sat down for her legendary interview sessions.\r\nFarewell, Marcel\r\nThe last photograph of Marcel Proust’s life, as the writer visited a Vermeer exhibition at the Jeu de Paume gallery\r\n \r\n\r\nSources:\r\nThe two biggies:\r\n\r\n\r\nMarcel Proust: A Life, William Carter, 2013.\r\n\r\nMonsieur Proust, Celeste Albaret, 2003. (Screw those reviewers, reading this book was a joy, I loved it.)\r\n\r\n\r\nThe rest:\r\n\r\n\r\n“Marcel Proust and the medicine of the Belle Epoque” pamphlet, the Royal Society of Medicine: https://www.rsm.ac.uk/media/2060/marcel-proust-exhibition-booklet.pdf\r\n\r\nLamont, Rosette, and Céleste Albaret. “Interview Avec Céleste Albaret.” The French Review, vol. 44, no. 1, 1970, pp. 15–33. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/385924. Accessed 25 Mar. 2021.\r\n\r\n“In the Footsteps of Marcel Proust” William Friedkin, The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/t-magazine/william-friedkin-marcel-proust.html\r\n\r\nBoym, Svetlana. “Nostalgia and its discontents.” The Hedgehog Review, vol. 9, no. 2, 2007, p. 7+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A168775861/AONE?u=sfpl_main&sid=AONE&xid=9c209110. Accessed 25 Mar. 2021.\r\n\r\nManley, Janet. “Longing for a Distant Home Amid a Pandemic.” New York Times, 14 Sept. 2020, p. B6(L). Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A635356510/AONE?u=sfpl_main&sid=AONE&xid=115d21c9. Accessed 25 Mar. 2021.\r\n\r\n“these were the days; OPINION.” Globe & Mail [Toronto, Canada], 11 July 2020, p. O1,O6,O7. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A629146415/AONE?u=sfpl_main&sid=AONE&xid=6f8acd35. Accessed 25 Mar. 2021.\r\n\r\n\r\nFurther reading:\r\n\r\n“How I Came to Love My Epic Quarantine Reading Project”, Oliver Munday, The Atlantic, https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/11/reading-proust-in-search-of-lost-time-during-pandemic/616850/\r\n\r\n“Analogue Ambles: Marcel Proust’s Dark Room”, Adam Scovell, February 10 2019, https://www.caughtbytheriver.net/2019/02/marcel-prousts-dark-room/\r\n\r\nKear, Jon (2007) Une Chambre Mentale: Proust’s Solitude. In: Hendrix, Harald, ed. Writers’ Houses and the Making of Memory. Routledge, New York/Oxon, pp. 221-235. ISBN 978-0-415-95742-7\r\n\r\n\r\nSubscribe to the newsletter\r\nWant more French history and pop culture in your life? Subscribe to the Land of Desire newsletter. The revamped newsletter comes in two flavors: free and paid. Free subscribers receive one newsletter per quarter; paid subscribers receive at least one newsletter per month. Subscribe to the newsletter here.\r\n\r\nSupport the Show\r\nThere are so many ways to support the show! First and foremost, sign up for a paid subscription to The Land of Desire newsletter or contribute via Patreon. If you’re a paid subscriber, chime in on our Substack discussion threads whenever a new newsletter is sent out! \r\n\r\nBut that’s not all: you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Until next time, au revoir!\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nJoin the Discussion\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nJoin our Substack discussions\r\n\r\nLike us on Facebook\r\n\r\nFollow us on Twitter (so many GIFs)\r\n\r\nFollow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live)\r\n\r\n\r\nThe post 66. Marcel & Celeste, Part I appeared first on The Land of Desire.\r\n

“Proust n’a aime que deux personnes, sa mere et Celeste.” – Prince Antoine Bibesco\r\n\r\nWhat better way to “celebrate” a year of sheltering in place than a closer look at France’s most famous social distancer? This week, I’m looking at the curious relationship between the eccentric, reclusive writer, Marcel Proust, and his beloved housekeeper-confidant, Céleste Albaret. Together, the two hunkered down into a mostly nocturnal life of writing, collaborating, and remembering while the world outside became incomprehensible. It’s the ultimate experiment in working from home – if your Uber Eats came from the Hotel Ritz, that is! Here’s the conclusion of our two part history of Marcel & Céleste. (Listen to part one here: 66. Marcel & Celeste, Part I.)\r\n\r\nEpisode 67: “Marcel & Celeste, Part II”\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe Bedrooms of Marcel Proust\r\nMarcel Proust’s famous cork-lined bedroom\r\n \r\n\r\nIn Marcel Proust’s final apartment, scraps lined the walls at the time of his death.\r\nThe formidable Céleste Albaret\r\nBlack and white portrait of an elderly Celeste Albaret, around the time she sat down for her legendary interview sessions.\r\nBlack and white portrait of Celeste Albaret and Odilon (Odile) Albaret\r\nFarewell, Marcel\r\nThe last photograph of Marcel Proust’s life, as the writer visited a Vermeer exhibition at the Jeu de Paume gallery\r\n \r\n\r\nSources:\r\nThe two biggies:\r\n\r\n\r\nMarcel Proust: A Life, William Carter, 2013.\r\n\r\nMonsieur Proust, Celeste Albaret, 2003. (Screw those reviewers, reading this book was a joy, I loved it.)\r\n\r\n\r\nThe rest:\r\n\r\n\r\n“Marcel Proust and the medicine of the Belle Epoque” pamphlet, the Royal Society of Medicine: https://www.rsm.ac.uk/media/2060/marcel-proust-exhibition-booklet.pdf\r\n\r\nLamont, Rosette, and Céleste Albaret. “Interview Avec Céleste Albaret.” The French Review, vol. 44, no. 1, 1970, pp. 15–33. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/385924. Accessed 25 Mar. 2021.\r\n\r\n“In the Footsteps of Marcel Proust” William Friedkin, The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/t-magazine/william-friedkin-marcel-proust.html\r\n\r\nBoym, Svetlana. “Nostalgia and its discontents.” The Hedgehog Review, vol. 9, no. 2, 2007, p. 7+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A168775861/AONE?u=sfpl_main&sid=AONE&xid=9c209110. Accessed 25 Mar. 2021.\r\n\r\nManley, Janet. “Longing for a Distant Home Amid a Pandemic.” New York Times, 14 Sept. 2020, p. B6(L). Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A635356510/AONE?u=sfpl_main&sid=AONE&xid=115d21c9. Accessed 25 Mar. 2021.\r\n\r\n“these were the days; OPINION.” Globe & Mail [Toronto, Canada], 11 July 2020, p. O1,O6,O7. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A629146415/AONE?u=sfpl_main&sid=AONE&xid=6f8acd35. Accessed 25 Mar. 2021.\r\n\r\n\r\nFurther reading:\r\n\r\n“How I Came to Love My Epic Quarantine Reading Project”, Oliver Munday, The Atlantic, https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/11/reading-proust-in-search-of-lost-time-during-pandemic/616850/\r\n\r\n“Analogue Ambles: Marcel Proust’s Dark Room”, Adam Scovell, February 10 2019, https://www.caughtbytheriver.net/2019/02/marcel-prousts-dark-room/\r\n\r\nKear, Jon (2007) Une Chambre Mentale: Proust’s Solitude. In: Hendrix, Harald, ed. Writers’ Houses and the Making of Memory. Routledge, New York/Oxon, pp. 221-235. ISBN 978-0-415-95742-7\r\n\r\n\r\nSubscribe to the newsletter\r\nWant more French history and pop culture in your life? Subscribe to the Land of Desire newsletter. The revamped newsletter comes in two flavors: free and paid. Free subscribers receive one newsletter per quarter; paid subscribers receive at least one newsletter per month. Subscribe to the newsletter here.\r\n\r\nSupport the Show\r\nThere are so many ways to support the show! First and foremost, sign up for a paid subscription to The Land of Desire newsletter or contribute via Patreon. If you’re a paid subscriber, chime in on our Substack discussion threads whenever a new newsletter is sent out! \r\n\r\nBut that’s not all: you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Until next time, au revoir!\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nJoin the Discussion\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nJoin our Substack discussions\r\n\r\nLike us on Facebook\r\n\r\nFollow us on Twitter (so many GIFs)\r\n\r\nFollow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live)\r\n\r\n\r\nThe post 67. Marcel & Celeste, Part II appeared first on The Land of Desire.\r\n

“The waters of Vichy…gave me back my strength.” – Madame de Sévigné The darkest days of winter are here, and I think it’s time we all indulged in a little self-care, non? My own quarantine hobby, skincare, set me down a particular path. Why was I spraying my face with thermal spa water from France? What is thermal spa water? Why do we drink thermal spa water? Does any of it really do anything? France loves her thermal spas, no matter what form they take: rustic watering hole, glamorous resort, or rigorous medical establishment.  Episode 65: “A Trip to the Spa” The history of French thermal spas: 19th century postcard from Evian-les-bain, one of the premiere thermal spas of France   Classic Belle Epoque poster for a thermal spa – note the scantily clad ladies in their alluring gowns, oh la la.   The rudimentary mud pits of Versailles courtiers’ favorite thermal spas at Bourbon L’Archimbault. We need a baigneuse on duty – there’s some funny business.. Sources: Weisz, George. “Spas, Mineral Waters, and Hydrological Science in Twentieth-Century France.” Isis, vol. 92, no. 3, 2001, pp. 451–483. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3080730. Accessed 24 Feb. 2021. Tilton, Elizabeth Meier. “Mineral and Thermal Spas in France.” The French Review, vol. 54, no. 4, 1981, pp. 566–572. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/391139. Accessed 24 Feb. 2021. Brockliss, L.W.B. “The Development of the Spa in Seventeenth-Century France.” Medical History, Supplement No. 10 1990, pp. 23-47. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/85a4/4c6b9caab12ded2f94ae0a354da2e1e372d4.pdf van Tubergen A, van der Linden S. “A brief history of spa therapy.” Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2002; 61:273-275. Palmer, Richard. “‘In This Our Lightye and Learned Tyme’: Italian Baths in the Era of the Renaissance.” Medical History, vol. 34, no. S10, 1990, pp. 14–22., doi:10.1017/S0025727300070964. Erfurt, Patricia J. “An assessment of the role of natural hot and mineral springs in health, wellness and recreational tourism.” PhD thesis, James Cook University, 2011. https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/31110/1/31110_Erfurt_2011_thesis.pdf Debus, Allen G. “Solution Analyses Prior to Robert Boyle.” Chymia, vol. 8, 1962, pp. 41–61. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27757217. Accessed 24 Feb. 2021. Gordon, Bertram. (2012). Reinventions of a spa town: the unique case of Vichy. Journal of Tourism History. 4. 35-55. 10.1080/1755182X.2012.671377. Lagrange, Joel. “Aix-les-Bains, the creation of the City of Water and publicity.” Histoire Urbaine, vol 3, 2019, pp 129-152. Marie-Eve Férérol, « Lust, tranquillity and sensuality in French spa towns in the heyday of balneotherapy (the belle époque and the roaring twenties) », Via [En ligne], 11-12 | 2017, mis en ligne le 14 mai 2018, consulté le 24 février 2021. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/viatourism/1763 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/viatourism.1763 Mackaman, Douglas P. “Competing Visions of Urban Grandeur: Planning and Developing Nineteeth-Century Spa Towns in France.” New Directions in Urban History, 2000, pp 41-64. Brei, V.A. (2018), How is a bottled water market created?. WIREs Water, 5: e1220. https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1220 Cacciapuoti, Sara et al. “The Role of Thermal Water in Chronic Skin Diseases Management: A Review of the Literature.” Journal of clinical medicine vol. 9,9 3047. 22 Sep. 2020, doi:10.3390/jcm9093047 “Our Rich History.” Avène website. https://www.aveneusa.com/history Subscribe to the newsletter Want more French history and pop culture in your life? Subscribe to the Land of Desire newsletter. The revamped newsletter comes in two flavors: free and paid. Free subscribers receive one newsletter per quarter; paid subscribers receive at least one newsletter per month. Subscribe to the newsletter here. Support the Show There are so many ways to support the show! First and foremost, sign up for a paid subscription to The Land of Desire newsletter or contribute via Patreon. If you’re a paid subscriber, chime in on our Substack discussion threads whenever a new newsletter is sent out!  But that’s not all: you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Until next time, au revoir! Join the Discussion Join our Substack discussions Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter (so many GIFs) Follow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live) The post 65. A Trip to the Spa appeared first on The Land of Desire.

“I think my hand will tremble,“ – Louis Pasteur Happy New Year! The Land of Desire is BACK with an exciting – and hopeful – story to set us off on the right track in 2021. Your happy host gets to indulge her love of epidemiology a little bit without leaving you depressed in the middle of a pandemic (she swears). This week, we’re taking a look at one of the greatest French inventions of all time. Along the way, we’ll encounter Catholic masses for dogs, the worst cruise you’ve ever heard of, and a man who came a bit too close to becoming a true mad scientist, Louis Pasteur. We’re at a turning point in medical science, so what better time to look back at how far we’ve come? This week, join me for a closer look at the history of the vaccine. Episode 64: “Louis Pasteur and the History of the Vaccine” The history of the vaccine: Louis Pasteur holding experimental rabbits in his laboratory.   Black and white photograph of Louis Pasteur and Joseph Meister. Meister’s treatment was a milestone in the history of the vaccine.   Black and white photograph of Joseph Meister, taken close to the day of his attack and treatment for rabies.   Edward Jenner consulting local milkmaids about their history of cowpox Further reading: “Louis Pasteur’s risky move to save a boy from almost certain death” Dr. Howard Markel, PBS Newshour. “The Promise of mRNA Vaccines” Diana Kwon, The Scientist. Sources: Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus – Bill Wasick, Monica Murphy Illness as Metaphor and AIDS And Its Metaphors – Susan Sontag “The first live attenuated vaccines” Caroline Barranco, Nature Research. Alberer M, Gnad-Vogt U, Hong HS, Mehr KT, Backert L, Finak G, Gottardo R, Bica MA, Garofano A, Koch SD, Fotin-Mleczek M, Hoerr I, Clemens R, von Sonnenburg F. Safety and immunogenicity of a mRNA rabies vaccine in healthy adults: an open-label, non-randomised, prospective, first-in-human phase 1 clinical trial. Lancet. 2017 Sep 23;390(10101):1511-1520. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31665-3. Epub 2017 Jul 25. PMID: 28754494. “22 Orphans Gave Up Everything to Distribute the World’s First Vaccine” Sam Kean, The Atlantic. Velasco-Villa A, Mauldin MR, Shi M, et al. The history of rabies in the Western Hemisphere. Antiviral Res. 2017;146:221-232. doi:10.1016/j.antiviral.2017.03.013 Kete, Kathleen. “La Rage and the Bourgeoisie: The Cultural Context of Rabies in the French Nineteenth Century.” Representations, no. 22, 1988, pp. 89–107. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2928412. Accessed 21 Jan. 2021. Historical Perspective of Rabies in Europe and the Mediterranean Basin A.A. King, A.R. Fooks, M. Aubert, A.I. Wandeler (Eds.). OIE, Paris, 2004. “The Rabies Vaccine Backstory” Catherine Offord, The Scientist, June 1 2016. Smith, Kendall A. “Louis pasteur, the father of immunology?.” Frontiers in immunology vol. 3 68. 10 Apr. 2012, doi:10.3389/fimmu.2012.00068 The first rabies vaccination in humans, Rino Rappuoli, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Aug 2014, 111 (34) 12273; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1414226111 Hansen, Bert. “America’s First Medical Breakthrough: How Popular Excitement about a French Rabies Cure in 1885 Raised New Expectations for Medical Progress.” The American Historical Review, vol. 103, no. 2, 1998, pp. 373–418. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2649773. Accessed 21 Jan. 2021. Rappuoli, Rino. “Inner Workings: 1885, the first rabies vaccination in humans.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America vol. 111,34 (2014): 12273. doi:10.1073/pnas.1414226111 Subscribe to the newsletter Want more French history and pop culture in your life? Subscribe to the Land of Desire newsletter. The revamped newsletter comes in two flavors: free and paid. Free subscribers receive one newsletter per quarter; paid subscribers receive at least one newsletter per month. Subscribe to the newsletter here. Support the Show There are so many ways to support the show! First and foremost, sign up for a paid subscription to The Land of Desire newsletter or contribute via Patreon. If you’re a paid subscriber, chime in on our Substack discussion threads whenever a new newsletter is sent out!  But that’s not all: you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Until next time, au revoir! Join the Discussion Join our Substack discussions Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter (so many GIFs) Follow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live) The post 64. Louis Pasteur and The History of the Vaccine appeared first on The Land of Desire.

“If I don’t kill a man every now and then, they forget who I am.” – Blackbeard, 18th century English pirate BOO! It’s spooky season, so I’m bringing you a chilling tale of piracy, treachery, and blood-soaked revenge. This week, we’re digging into the very beginning of the Hundred Years’ War, when a bunch of scheming men had their plans ruined by scheming women. We’ll learn about the War of Breton Succession, a.k.a. a teensy conflict that managed to explode into an international proxy war. Despite the strictures of medieval society, Breton women were claiming thrones, leading armies into battle, and taking to the high seas. Jeanne de Clisson, furious widow, turned her rage into a lifelong search for vengeance, and we are definitely going to dig into the gory details. Episode 63: “Jeanne de Clisson and the Black Fleet” Jeanne de Clisson, lady pirate: Medieval portrait of Jeanne de Clisson   See the organizational splendor of the Hundred Years War. Sources:   Subscribe to the brand new newsletter That’s right – the Land of Desire newsletter is BACK. The revamped newsletter comes in two flavors: free and paid. Free subscribers receive one newsletter per quarter; paid subscribers receive at last one newsletter per month. Subscribe to the newsletter here. Support the Show There are so many ways to support the show! First and foremost, sign up for a paid subscription to The Land of Desire newsletter or contribute via Patreon. If you’re a paid subscriber, chime in on our Substack discussion threads whenever a new newsletter is sent out!  But that’s not all: you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Until next time, au revoir! Join the Discussion Join our Substack discussions (paid subscribers only) Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter (so many GIFs) Follow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live) The post 63. Jeanne de Clisson and the Black Fleet appeared first on The Land of Desire.

“Please, try to be fair.” – Surya Bonaly, 1994 World Championships At long last, I get to combine two of my great passions: French history and 1990s women’s figure skating! Let’s face it, France hasn’t produced that many great female skaters over the decades. Male skaters like Alain Calmat and Pierre Péra made their way to the champion’s podium, but as the end of the 20th century approached, French women had yet to clinch a single individual medal. At the beginning of the 1990s, however, a once-in-a-generation talent arrived, giving France its first shot at a women’s medal in 40 years. You’d think France would be thrilled, right? But Surya Bonaly was not the skating talent they’d expected: eccentric, defiant, athletic – and black. In the age of “ice princesses”, Surya was an anomaly, and the figure skating world feared the kind of future she represented. Frustrated at every turn, she faced disappointment after disappointment until at last, with the whole world watching, Surya decided to make figure skating history – on her own terms. Episode 62: “Surya Bonaly” Surya Bonaly at the Olympics: 1992 Albertville Olympics: 1994 Lillehammer Olympics: 1998 Nagano Olympics: Sources: “Surya And The Dragon Lady: France’s Skating Soap Opera” Jere Longman, The Seattle Times, January 12, 1992. “French investigation exposes more than 20 skating coaches” Associated Press, August 3, 2020. “Patinage: Didier Gailhaguet, attaque le ministère des sports en justice” Le Monde, June 12, 2020. “French ice federation boss steps down amid sexual abuse scandal” Reuters, February 8, 2020. “Les bons mots de Georges Bonaly, père de Surya” L’Humanité, February 25, 1994 “ALBERTVILLE; Bonaly, Sans Backflip, Has the Jump on Ito” Michael Janofsky, The New York Times, February 21, 1992. “French skater comes close in bid for first quad toe loop” Toledo Blade, February 22, 1992. “SURYA S’ECLIPSE” L’Humanité, March 31, 1992. “LILLEHAMMER / ’94 WINTER OLYMPICS: After Harding Stumbles, Baiul, Bonaly Contend” Mike Downey, Los Angeles Times, February 24, 1994. “WINTER OLYMPICS; A Pause in Scandal: Now They Will Skate” Jere Longman, The New York Times, February 23, 1994. “FIGURE SKATING; Cheers for Sato of Japan; Tears for Bonaly of France” Associated Press, March 27, 1994. “Figure skating’s bad-girl star Surya Bonaly makes new life in Minnesota” Susan Du, City Pages, September 7, 2016. “Questions Of Style for European Champions” Christopher Clarey, The New York Times, February 6, 1994. “Silver Isn’t Enough for Bonaly: Figure skating: She objects to decision giving Sato the gold medal. Kwan finishes eighth with strong freestyle performance.” Randy Harvey, Los Angeles Times, March 27, 1994. “Figure Skating Has Earned Some Low Marks in 1994” Wendy E. Lane, Associated Press, April 2, 1994. “Young Kwan Learns Older Is Better in World Championships” Mike Penner, Los Angeles Times, March 12, 1995. “Chen is on top of world; Bobek falls into third” Tampa Bay Times, March 12, 1995. Subscribe to the brand new newsletter That’s right – the Land of Desire newsletter is BACK. The revamped newsletter comes in two flavors: free and paid. Free subscribers receive one newsletter per quarter; paid subscribers receive at last one newsletter per month. Subscribe to the newsletter here. Support the Show There are so many ways to support the show! First and foremost, sign up for a paid subscription to The Land of Desire newsletter or contribute via Patreon. If you’re a paid subscriber, chime in on our Substack discussion threads whenever a new newsletter is sent out!  But that’s not all: you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Until next time, au revoir! Join the Discussion Join our Substack discussions (paid subscribers only) Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter (so many GIFs) Follow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live) The post 62. Surya Bonaly appeared first on The Land of Desire.

“My biggest fear is that we’ll be too successful.” – Robert Fitzpatrick, Euro Disney chairman It’s that time of year – les vacances! Oh, wait, you’re stuck at home? No big international trips? Global pandemic got you grounded? Yeah, me too. My favorite summer destination, Disneyland, is closed for COVID, and it’ll be a long time until it reopens. When it does, it won’t be the same. It’ll be an uncanny valley effect, where everything seems like the Disneyland you know and love, but when you look at it long enough, it’s not quite right. It will be a little off-center. It will be a little sad. And it’ll be empty, way too empty for Disneyland. In other words, it’ll be just like…Euro Disney. Episode 61: “Euro Disney” The Sad Tale of Euro Disney: The stuff of nightmares: promotional cast member picture for Euro Disney, 1992.   Michael Eisner, closing his eyes to the financial disaster unfolding before him at Euro Disney, opening day 1992.   The infamous 1992 tractor protest in front of Euro Disney.   Sources: “Euro Disney: The First 100 Days”, Gary W. Loveman, Leonard A. Schlesigner, Robert T. Anthony, Harvard Business Review, 1992. “Threat of Strike in Euro Disney Debut”, Roger Cohen, The New York Times, 1992. “Mickey’s Trip to Trouble”, Newsweek, 1994. France and the Construction of Europe, 144 to 2007: The Geopolitical Imperative, Michael Sutton, 2007. “Michael Eisner Reveals The Magic Touch That Gave A Glow To Disneyland Paris”, Christian Sylt, Forbes, 2019. “Playing Disney in the Parisian Fields”, Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, 1991. “Saudi prince to invest in Euro Disney”, UPI, 1994. Philippe Askenazy, Working time regulation in France from 1996 to 2012, Cambridge Journal of Economics, Volume 37, Issue 2, March 2013, Pages 323–347, https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/bes084 “Disneyland Paris returns to profit for the first time in more than a decade”, Christian Sylt, The Telegraph, 2019. “Disney to buy most of Euro Disney”, BBC, 2017. “Walt Disney to invest 2 billion euros in Disneyland Paris”, Reuters, 2018. “Euro Disney Loss Is Up, Despite Rise in Visitors”, David Jolly, The New York Times, 2009. “Disney Hopes Eisner Can Wake Sleeping Beauty”, Aljean Harmetz, The New York Times, 1984. “Protesters Block Euro Disneyland”, Rone Tempest, The LA Times, 1992. “Only the French Elite Scorn Mickey’s Debut”, Alan Riding, The New York Times, 1992. Further Reading:   Subscribe to the brand new newsletter That’s right – the Land of Desire newsletter is BACK. The revamped newsletter comes in two flavors: free and paid. Free subscribers receive one newsletter per quarter; paid subscribers receive at last one newsletter per month. Subscribe to the newsletter here. Support the Show There are so many ways to support the show! First and foremost, sign up for a paid subscription to The Land of Desire newsletter or contribute via Patreon. If you’re a paid subscriber, chime in on our Substack discussion threads whenever a new newsletter is sent out!  But that’s not all: you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Until next time, au revoir! Join the Discussion Join our Substack discussions (paid subscribers only) Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter (so many GIFs) Follow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live) The post 61. Euro Disney appeared first on The Land of Desire.

“A party without a cake is just a meeting.” – Julia Child It’s our birthday!! Today, The Land of Desire kicks off its fifth year and what better way to celebrate than with a little cake? This week, I’m focusing on the history of one of my favorite French treats: the humble, beloved madeleine! “One could almost call the madeleine France’s national cookie” wrote Patricia Wells in the New York Times back in 1983. She didn’t know about the endless macaron obsession that was still to come, but I think she has a point. This week, pull up a chair, pour a cup of tea, and definitely make sure to sign up for the newsletter (hint: I’m sharing my favorite recipe!!!) while we celebrate the life and times of the French madeleine. Episode 60: “Madeleines” Madeleine miscellany: This podcast host’s own recent batch of madeleines, steaming hot out of the oven, paired with French tea, pour faire goûter. A scallop shell on display at Santiago de Compostela’s Museo de las Peregrinaciones (Pilgrimages Museum), dating to prior to 1120.   Signpost on the Camino de Santiago de Campostela, with the iconic seashell engraving indicating that pilgrims were on the right path.   Traditional oval box of Madeleines de Commercy, in a fir box from the nearby Vosges forests.   Women of Commercy selling their traditional local madeleines to a new kind of pilgrim: railroad passengers. Further Reading: Sigh. Sometimes you finish putting your finishing touches on an episode…and discover an entire treasure trove of rich information about your subject that you somehow failed to uncover after weeks of research. This would be a different episode if I’d come across the following (brilliant) essay earlier: How Marcel Proust killed the Commercy madeleine Cake: A History by Nicola Humble is FASCINATING. She made me re-think the entire idea of what it means for something to be a cake. Super recommended, discovering this book was one of the highlights of researching this episode. Subscribe to the brand new newsletter That’s right – the Land of Desire newsletter is BACK. The revamped newsletter comes in two flavors: free and paid. Free subscribers receive one newsletter per quarter; paid subscribers receive at last one newsletter per month. Subscribe to the newsletter here. Support the Show There are so many ways to support the show! First and foremost, sign up for a paid subscription to The Land of Desire newsletter or contribute via Patreon. If you’re a paid subscriber, chime in on our Substack discussion threads whenever a new newsletter is sent out!  But that’s not all: you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Until next time, au revoir! Join the Discussion Join our Substack discussions (paid subscribers only) Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter (so many GIFs) Follow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live) The post 60. The History of Madeleines appeared first on The Land of Desire.

“To those who served to save a little of the beauty of this world.” – epigraph, memoirs of Rose Valland   Surprise! I know I said I was done with Women At War, but then I immediately sat up in bed one night and smacked myself in the forehead. This series is the perfect opportunity to tell the story of my favorite unlikely heroine of all time: Rose Valland.  What better way to wrap up the fourth year of this podcast than an adventure story? Intrigue, stolen masterpieces, underground Rèsistance, and a happy ending! Please enjoy this little bonus episode, delivered just in time. Episode 59: “Women At War BONUS: The Witness (Rose Valland)” Rose Valland, the unlikely accomplice Rose Valland poses next to a stack of canvases A page from Rose Valland’s copious notes Discovering Vermeer’s The Astrologer A few other terrific, highly recommended reads: The Rape of Europa by Lynn H. Nicholas – Ahhh, one of my favorite art history books! If you aren’t ready to commit, consider watching the superb documentary, available on Amazon Prime – it’s my favorite documentary of all time! Les Parisiennes by Anne Sebba – If I could recommend a single English-language book about French women’s experiences during World War II, this is the one I’d choose! The Greatest Treasure Hunt In History: The Story of the Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel – He’s written roughly 8 million books on the same subject, but this particular title (I believe geared towards young adults but honestly, I can hardly tell) is especially Rose-centric. The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel – What can I say? This is the popular nonfiction counterpart to Lynn Nicholas’s academic (slightly dry but truly groundbreaking) Rape of Europa. It’s better than the fairly wretched movie. Further Reading: “Art Looted by Nazis Gets A New Space at the Louvre. But Is It Really Home?” (New York Times) “In France, A Renewed Push to Return Art Looted By Nazis” (NPR) “Poland Urged to Look for Nazi-Looted Art Still Held In Its Museums” (New York Times) “Over $1.35 billion in Nazi art found hidden behind ‘mountains of rotting food'”  (The Verge) Subscribe to the brand new newsletter That’s right – the Land of Desire newsletter is BACK. The revamped newsletter comes in two flavors: free and paid. Free subscribers receive one newsletter per quarter; paid subscribers receive at last one newsletter per month. Subscribe to the newsletter here. Support the Show There are so many ways to support the show! First and foremost, sign up for a paid subscription to The Land of Desire newsletter or contribute via Patreon. If you’re a paid subscriber, chime in on our Substack discussion threads whenever a new newsletter is sent out!  But that’s not all: you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Until next time, au revoir! Join the Discussion Join our Substack discussions (paid subscribers only) Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter (so many GIFs) Follow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live) The post 59. Women At War BONUS: The Witness (Rose Valland) appeared first on The Land of Desire.

When we came back, nobody wanted to know. ― Loulou Le Porz, Ravensbruck survivor It’s the two-part conclusion of the miniseries: Women In War. This episode was a long time coming. I struggled to read the stories of Ravensbruck concentration camp. How can I pay tribute to these brave women? But I knew the story of French women during World War II would be incomplete without confronting the truth of the camp.  Note: This episode is much darker than any previous episodes of this podcast. Please consider this a content warning for, well, just about everything. If you just discovered the show via the newest issue of France-Amérique Magazine, welcome! You might want to start with a lighter episode, like this one or this one. Episode 57: “Women At War 5: The Survivor I (Marie-José Wilborts)” Marie-Jo, the children’s guardian Marie-José Chombart de Lauwe, a.k.a. Marie-José Wilborts, grew up determined to “do something with my life.” She certainly did: fighting in the Résistance, protecting the children of Ravensbruck concentration camp, and devoting her entire life to the study of childhood, and the advocation of children’s rights. She is an incredible woman, and at the age of 96 she is still going strong!  A young Marie-José Wilborts, schoolgirl Résistante   Marie Jo’s “ausweis” or pass, which allowed her to leave and enter Bréhat freely. The ausweis was essential for Marie-Jo’s Résistance activities.   Above: Marie-Jo tells the story of her years in Ravensbruck and Mauthausen concentration camps.   I adore this recent interview with Marie-Jo – look at her cozy home! Here, continuing her lifelong advocacy of children’s well-being, she discusses the state of children’s education today: Images from Ravensbruck The barracks of Ravensbruck concentration camp. Note the dense forest, hiding the camp from view.   The crowded bunks of Ravensbruck. Originally intended to hold 3,000 prisoners, by the end of the war it held nearly 40,000 women and children.   Ukrainian mothers in the infamous Kinderzimmer of Ravensbruck. One of the women was raped by the Red Army when the camp was liberated. Sources My primary source for this week’s episode is Marie-Jo’s own memoir, Resister Toujours. It’s only available in French right now. I find it particularly poignant that her memoir describes her entire life, not just her experience in the Résistance and Ravensbruck. The best revenge is a life well lived, and Marie-Jo has done just that. A few other terrific, highly recommended reads: Ravensbruck by Sarah Helm – A fantastic work of scholarship and journalism. Helm did a remarkable job tracking down survivors for interviews, and helping survivors tell their stories after decades of silence. I particularly respect her commitment to telling the stories of the most marginalized victims of Ravensbruck. There is so much work to be done. Les Parisiennes by Anne Sebba – If I could recommend a single English-language book about French women’s experiences during World War II, this is the one I’d choose! Fighters In The Shadows by Robert Gildea – Recommended with a caveat: I don’t think Gildea is the most evocative writer, and this is shockingly poor editing for Harvard University. However, Gildea’s scholarship is tremendous especially when it comes to foreign or Jewish resistance networks. A Train in Winter by Caroline Moorehead – This author focuses on a different convoy of women deported to Ravensbruck. I first read this book years ago, and it’s stuck with me ever since. Sudden Courage: Youth in France Confront the Germans, 1940-1945 by Ronald C. Rosbottom – Rosbottom wrote one of my favorite books about the Occupation, When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944. This one is particularly poignant, considering the incredibly young ages of so many participants in the French Resistance. The photos alone will make you weep – they look like the babies they were. When Marie-Jo joined the Résistance at 17, she wasn’t alone. Further Reading: Letter from Ravensbruck – Penned by The New Yorker’s famous Paris correspondent, Janet Flanner, this article was first published two days before the Red Army liberated the camp.  Madame Fourcade’s Secret War by Lynn Olson – You’ve probably seen this making the rounds. I’m thrilled to see something about les résistantes making the rounds! I’ve heard good things but haven’t checked it out myself just yet. Subscribe to the brand new newsletter That’s right – the Land of Desire newsletter is BACK. The revamped newsletter comes in two flavors: free and paid. Free subscribers receive one newsletter per quarter; paid subscribers receive at last one newsletter per month. Subscribe to the newsletter here. Support the Show There are so many ways to support the show! First and foremost, sign up for a paid subscription to The Land of Desire newsletter or contribute via Patreon. If you’re a paid subscriber, chime in on our Substack discussion threads whenever a new newsletter is sent out!  But that’s not all: you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Until next time, au revoir! Join the Discussion Join our Substack discussions (paid subscribers only) Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter (so many GIFs) Follow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live) The post 57. Women At War 5: The Survivor I (Marie-José Wilborts) appeared first on The Land of Desire.

When we came back, nobody wanted to know. ― Loulou Le Porz, Ravensbruck survivor   It’s the two-part conclusion of the miniseries: Women In War. This episode was a long time coming. I struggled to read the stories of Ravensbruck concentration camp. How can I pay tribute to these brave women? But I knew the story of French women during World War II would be incomplete without confronting the truth of the camp.  Note: This episode is much darker than any previous episodes of this podcast. Please consider this a content warning for, well, just about everything. If you just discovered the show via the newest issue of France-Amérique Magazine, welcome! You might want to start with a lighter episode, like this one or this one. Episode 58: “Women At War 5: The Survivor II (Marie-José Wilborts)” Marie-Jo, the children’s guardian Marie-José Chombart de Lauwe, a.k.a. Marie-José Wilborts, grew up determined to “do something with my life.” She certainly did: fighting in the Résistance, protecting the children of Ravensbruck concentration camp, and devoting her entire life to the study of childhood, and the advocation of children’s rights. She is an incredible woman, and at the age of 96 she is still going strong!  A young Marie-José Wilborts, schoolgirl Résistante   Marie Jo’s “ausweis” or pass, which allowed her to leave and enter Bréhat freely. The ausweis was essential for Marie-Jo’s Résistance activities.   Above: Marie-Jo tells the story of her years in Ravensbruck and Mauthausen concentration camps.   I adore this recent interview with Marie-Jo – look at her cozy home! Here, continuing her lifelong advocacy of children’s well-being, she discusses the state of children’s education today: Images from Ravensbruck The barracks of Ravensbruck concentration camp. Note the dense forest, hiding the camp from view.   The crowded bunks of Ravensbruck. Originally intended to hold 3,000 prisoners, by the end of the war it held nearly 40,000 women and children.   Ukrainian mothers in the infamous Kinderzimmer of Ravensbruck. One of the women was raped by the Red Army when the camp was liberated. Sources My primary source for this week’s episode is Marie-Jo’s own memoir, Resister Toujours. It’s only available in French right now. I find it particularly poignant that her memoir describes her entire life, not just her experience in the Résistance and Ravensbruck. The best revenge is a life well lived, and Marie-Jo has done just that. A few other terrific, highly recommended reads: Ravensbruck by Sarah Helm – A fantastic work of scholarship and journalism. Helm did a remarkable job tracking down survivors for interviews, and helping survivors tell their stories after decades of silence. I particularly respect her commitment to telling the stories of the most marginalized victims of Ravensbruck. There is so much work to be done. Les Parisiennes by Anne Sebba – If I could recommend a single English-language book about French women’s experiences during World War II, this is the one I’d choose! Fighters In The Shadows by Robert Gildea – Recommended with a caveat: I don’t think Gildea is the most evocative writer, and this is shockingly poor editing for Harvard University. However, Gildea’s scholarship is tremendous especially when it comes to foreign or Jewish resistance networks. A Train in Winter by Caroline Moorehead – This author focuses on a different convoy of women deported to Ravensbruck. I first read this book years ago, and it’s stuck with me ever since. Sudden Courage: Youth in France Confront the Germans, 1940-1945 by Ronald C. Rosbottom – Rosbottom wrote one of my favorite books about the Occupation, When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944. This one is particularly poignant, considering the incredibly young ages of so many participants in the French Resistance. The photos alone will make you weep – they look like the babies they were. When Marie-Jo joined the Résistance at 17, she wasn’t alone. Further Reading: Letter from Ravensbruck – Penned by The New Yorker’s famous Paris correspondent, Janet Flanner, this article was first published two days before the Red Army liberated the camp.  Madame Fourcade’s Secret War by Lynn Olson – You’ve probably seen this making the rounds. I’m thrilled to see something about les résistantes making the rounds! I’ve heard good things but haven’t checked it out myself just yet. Subscribe to the brand new newsletter That’s right – the Land of Desire newsletter is BACK. The revamped newsletter comes in two flavors: free and paid. Free subscribers receive one newsletter per quarter; paid subscribers receive at last one newsletter per month. Subscribe to the newsletter here. Support the Show There are so many ways to support the show! First and foremost, sign up for a paid subscription to The Land of Desire newsletter or contribute via Patreon. If you’re a paid subscriber, chime in on our Substack discussion threads whenever a new newsletter is sent out!  But that’s not all: you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Until next time, au revoir! Join the Discussion Join our Substack discussions (paid subscribers only) Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter (so many GIFs) Follow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live) The post 58. Women At War 5: The Survivor II (Marie-José Wilborts) appeared first on The Land of Desire.

  We are going underground. ? Jacqueline Marié It’s the continuation of my new miniseries on a subject extremely near and dear to my heart: Women In War! For the next few weeks I’ll be focusing on the experiences of women in France during World War II: fighting the resistance, collaborating with the Nazis, keeping children alive against the odds, and trying to figure out the right way to live in a world that seemed upside down. The idea of this series first took shape before I even began this podcast, and I’m thrilled to bring it to you now. While our last episode focused on Coco Chanel and other French men and women who eagerly collaborated with the Germans, a number of brave men – and, particularly women – risked their lives to fight back. This week, we’ll focus on the women of the French Resistance. Episode 56: “Women At War 4: The Résistante (Jacqueline Marié)” Jacqueline Marié: Heroine of the French Resistance Jacqueline is incredible – and I don’t mean to spoil the ending of the miniseries with that verb tense, but YES, that’s RIGHT, she is STILL ALIVE and kicking butt and writing her memoirs. If you speak French, here are some incredibly precious videos of Jacqueline telling her own story. Jacqueline and her brother, Pierre Sources My primary source for this week’s episode is Jacqueline’s own brand new memoir, Résistante. It’s only available in French right now, but it actually makes a pretty good read for language learners. Nearly the entire book is written in the present tense, so if you’re struggling with the plus que parfait (couldn’t possibly be me) this is actually a fairly manageable read.  A few other terrific, highly recommended reads: Les Parisiennes by Anne Sebba – If I could recommend a single English-language book about French women’s experiences during World War II, this is the one I’d choose! Fighters In The Shadows by Robert Gildea – Recommended with a caveat: I don’t think Gildea is the most evocative writer, and this is shockingly poor editing for Harvard University. However, Gildea’s scholarship is tremendous especially when it comes to foreign or Jewish resistance networks. A Train in Winter by Caroline Moorehead – I read this one years ago, and it always stuck in my mind. I reread it before this episode. She focuses on a specific group of women over the course of the war, and I think that narrowed lens has a lot to offer vs the sweeping approaches used above. Sudden Courage: Youth in France Confront the Germans, 1940-1945 by Ronald C. Rosbottom – Rosbottom wrote one of my favorite books about the Occupation, When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944. This one is particularly poignant, considering the incredibly young ages of so many participants in the French Resistance. The photos alone will make you weep – they look like the babies they were. This Anguish, Like A Kind of Intimate Song: Resistance in Women’s Literature of World War II by Lillian Leigh Westerfield – Great if you want to learn more about the women-focused literature of the age, including all those underground newsletters. “Témoignage de Jacqueline Fleury, née Marié” in 1939-1945: Combats de Femmes – Françaises et Allemandes, les oubliées de l’histoire edited by Évelyne Morin-Rotureau – If you won’t have the time to read all of Résistante, you can read her Jacqueline’s earlier testimonies here. Paywall. If nothing else, read this absolutely terrific interview with Jacqueline in Elle. Further Reading: Madame Fourcade’s Secret War by Lynn Olson – You’ve probably seen this making the rounds. I’m thrilled to see something about les résistantes making the rounds! I’ve heard good things but haven’t checked it out myself just yet. “Jacqueline Fleury-Marié, la Résistance dans la peau” by Lauren Mauron  – very recent interview with Jacqueline in Le Parisien Subscribe to the brand new newsletter That’s right – the Land of Desire newsletter is BACK. The revamped newsletter comes in two flavors: free and paid. Free subscribers receive one newsletter per quarter; paid subscribers receive at last one newsletter per month. Subscribe to the newsletter here. Support the Show There are so many ways to support the show! First and foremost, sign up for a paid subscription to The Land of Desire newsletter or contribute via Patreon. If you’re a paid subscriber, chime in on our Substack discussion threads whenever a new newsletter is sent out!  But that’s not all: you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Until next time, au revoir! Join the Discussion Join our Substack discussions (paid subscribers only) Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter (so many GIFs) Follow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live) The post 56. Women At War 4: The Résistante (Jacqueline Marié) appeared first on The Land of Desire.

  If one took seriously the disclosures that Mademoiselle Chanel allowed herself to make about those black years of the Occupation, one’s teeth would be set on edge. ? Marcel Haedrich, friend and biographer It’s the continuation of my new miniseries on a subject extremely near and dear to my heart: Women In War! For the next few weeks I’ll be focusing on the experiences of women in France during World War II: fighting the resistance, collaborating with the Nazis, keeping children alive against the odds, and trying to figure out the right way to live in a world that seemed upside down. The idea of this series first took shape before I even began this podcast, and I’m thrilled to bring it to you now. Picking up where my previous episode left off, women across the country are adjusting to life under German rule. Where some women see Occupation, however, others see an opportunity… Episode 55: “Women At War 3: The Collaborator (Coco Chanel)” Coco Chanel I don’t want to come across as glamorizing her, so I’m trying to strike a balance between admiring and paying her the respect she’s due for truly revolutionizing women’s wear in the 20th century – without letting people forget that she collaborated pretty gleefully with the Nazis. Fashion before Coco: Corsets, corsets, corsets. Heavy satin, hobble skirts. Gorgeous, if you don’t plan on going anywhere.   Truly the hobbling-est skirts.   These gowns are gorgeous, breathtakingly elaborate, and weigh probably 15 pounds. Corset not optional. Women dressed to be ornamental – and stationary.   Perfect for fluttering a fan and your eyelashes, very inconvenient for tennis. Fashion after Coco: “Oh, merde” said the author, realizing that she was wearing this exact outfit while writing the episode. Coco’s best model was always herself. Here she shows off her classic jersey knit. The joke was to put rich women in cheap fabric – but those women laughed all the way to the tennis courts, the department stores, their new jobs, etc etc… Goodbye, confining corsets! Adieu, hobble skirts! A woman could wear this to the office in 2020 and get compliments. A classic Chanel evening gown from 1923. Deeply luxurious and beautifully crafted, but look at those lovely armholes for swanning about! And that dropped waist, so you can eat another amuse bouche! So much jazz dancing and cocktail drinking to be done in one of these. Chanel’s influence was palpable. Just look at all those simple cuts and straightforward fabrics! These are clothes for women with things to do. Coco the Co-llaborator A young Baron von Dincklage Chanel and Dincklage, years after the war. There are no known photographs of them together during WWII. Chanel and Dincklage just after the war, in Lausanne, Switzerland Coco Chanel with Bendor. Not pictured: Bendor’s big conspiracy book about whether Queen Victoria was secretly a Jew (gasp!). Also not pictured: Bendor’s bestie, Edward the Abdicating Fascist The good old days: Bendor (The Duke of Westminster), Coco and Winston Churchill.   Made for each other (they’re both awful). Sources Chanel’s story is fascinating because it’s fairly recent scholarship – only in the last few years has all the evidence been declassified. Reading biographies of her, therefore, should be taken with a grain of salt and a bit of empathy towards the authors. The facts on the ground changed FAST. It’s also hard to sort out quality, because pissed-off Chanel fans are constantly rating these books 1 star for saying unflattering things about her. (Check out the top rated review for Garelick’s work. Oh, Lord.) With that said, here are 3 books of particular interest, amidst the 200,284,493 biographies of Coco Chanel: The Secret of Chanel No. 5: The Intimate History of the World’s Most Famous Perfume – Tilar J. Mazzeo: This is a perfect example of a book to take with a grain of salt. A lot of incriminating evidence was still in the archives at the time, plus this author has a bizarre need to make assumptions about Chanel’s state of mind which aren’t really supported by anything she said or did. That said, the first ~150 pages of this are a great primer. I’d never thought about the move from representational > abstract perfume as a parallel movement to what was happening in art. Does a great job explaining aldehydes. Still hate the smell of Chanel No 5, but at least I can appreciate it. Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel’s Secret War – Hal Vaughan: This book was a bombshell. Vaughan was the first one to really synthesize all the recently declassified evidence from French and German archives, and he builds a damning case. That said, it needs an editor, and it’s frequently confusing. I wish he’d done a better job writing, but I appreciate that he probably wanted to beat the others to print.  Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History – Rhonda K. Garelick: If you had to choose one book to read on Chanel, this would probably be the one I’d select. It’s very recent, so it includes Vaughan’s findings PLUS stuff that was declassified after he was published. Garelick tracks own some damning testimony of her own. But more importantly, this is an erudite, scholarly work, not a puff piece. She does a marvelous job situating Coco’s life within the context of the rapidly shifting 20th century. Garelick gives praise when its due, without sugarcoating or excusing terrible behavior – her chapters on fascism are great. Subscribe to the brand new newsletter That’s right – the Land of Desire newsletter is BACK. The revamped newsletter comes in two flavors: free and paid. Free subscribers receive one newsletter per quarter; paid subscribers receive at last one newsletter per month. Subscribe to the newsletter here. Support the Show There are so many ways to support the show! First and foremost, sign up for a paid subscription to The Land of Desire newsletter or contribute via Patreon. If you’re a paid subscriber, chime in on our Substack discussion threads whenever a new newsletter is sent out!  But that’s not all: you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Until next time, au revoir! Join the Discussion Join our Substack discussions (paid subscribers only) Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter (so many GIFs) Follow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live) The post 55. Women At War 3: The Collaborator (Coco Chanel) appeared first on The Land of Desire.

  “We decided to take only precious items. But what did we have that was precious?” ? Jackie DeCol, Parisian refugee I’m excited to announce the launch of a new miniseries on a subject extremely near and dear to my heart: Women In War! For the next few weeks I’ll be focusing on the experiences of women in France during World War II: fighting the resistance, collaborating with the Nazis, keeping children alive against the odds, and trying to figure out the right way to live in a world that seemed upside down. The idea of this series first took shape before I even began this podcast, and I’m thrilled to bring it to you now. We’re beginning at the end – the end of the Third Republic, that is. The Nazis have made it to the gates of Paris, and a 16 year old girl named Elisabeth Kaufmann must decide to stay or flee.  Episode 53: “Women At War 1: The Exile (Elisabeth Kaufmann)” Elisabeth Kaufmann Elisabeth’s diary miraculously survived the war, including her wartime watercolors of fleeing Parisians. Here’s an example below – I’ll include more in the next newsletter. Sources The subject of women in wartime is especially overlooked, and so much amazing historical scholarship has come out even in recent years. I’ll be sharing my full reading list in the newsletter, but here are some of the most important sources for this week’s episode: Salvaged Pages: Young Writers’ Diaries of the Holocaust (ed. Alexandra Zapruder) – this is an incredible collection, and the primary source for Elisabeth Kaufmann’s story. The physical copy of her diary is now stored at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Les Parisiennes: Resistance, Collaboration, and the Women of Paris Under Nazi Occupation (Anne Sebba) – gah, this is the incredible book that kicked my butt into finally making this series. While she helped set me off down some research paths to find the subjects of this miniseries, I think the most valuable part of this book is the incredible original scholarship that she’s contributed – interviewing every survivor she can find living in Paris today. One Woman’s War: A Canadian Reporter with the Free French (Gladys Arnold) – this read is fantastic, Gladys was clearly a pip.  Paris at War: 1939-1944 (David Drake) Fleeing Hitler: 1940 (Hanna Diamond) – Almost entirely focused on l’Exode – this is a really rich source. An Iron Wind: Europe Under Hitler (Peter Fritzsche)  The Life of Irène Némirovsky: 1903-1942 (Olivier Philipponnat, Patrick Lienhardt) Subscribe to the brand new newsletter That’s right – the Land of Desire newsletter is BACK. The revamped newsletter comes in two flavors: free and paid. Free subscribers receive one newsletter per quarter; paid subscribers receive at last one newsletter per month. Subscribe to the newsletter here. Support the Show There are so many ways to support the show! First and foremost, sign up for a paid subscription to The Land of Desire newsletter or contribute via Patreon. If you’re a paid subscriber, chime in on our Substack discussion threads whenever a new newsletter is sent out!  But that’s not all: you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Until next time, au revoir! Join the Discussion Join our Substack discussions (paid subscribers only) Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter (so many GIFs) Follow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live) The post 53. Women At War 1: The Exile (Elisabeth Kaufmann) appeared first on The Land of Desire.

  “It is fresh, and free.” ? Paul de Charry, art critic This week, we’re kicking off the fourth year of the podcast with some hot fun in the summertime! It’s hot in Paris – too hot – and a listener question got me thinking about historical ways to beat the heat. This question led me on a journey – a short, shady journey to a little island that brought a generation of Parisians artistic inspiration and some much needed relief from the city heat. This week, I’m talking about the island of Chatou, the creation of Auguste Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party” and sharing a BIG announcement about the show! Episode 52: “Luncheon of the Boating Party” Sources I can’t believe that I forgot one of my favorite books in last week’s Listener Q&A and in my new recommendations page! Everyone who is even the slightest bit interested in Impressionism should grab a copy of Sue Roe’s The Private Lives of the Impressionists. I’ve reread this book at least 3 times through, and it was one of my original inspirations for the podcast! It’s a fun, educational and sometimes scandalous read and I learn something new every time I pick it up. Highly, highly recommended. Les affiches illustrées (1886-1895) Ouvrage orné de 64 [i.e. 72] lithographies en couleur et de cent deux reproductions en noir et en couleur d’après les affiches originales des meilleurs artistes – Ernest Maindron, 1896 “Girls, girls and a furniture cart”, Elizabeth Lee, The Guardian (1985) Renoir, My Father – The famous filmmaker Jean Renoir takes down his father’s memoirs. A useful resource, and a moving one. “‘Luncheon’ is served”, Peter Mikelbank, The Washington Post, October 14, 1990 History of La Grenouillère, from the official museum website “A Heat Wave Bakes Paris, Where Air-Conditioning Is Scarce”, Iliana Magra, Elian Peltier and Constant Meheut, The New York Times, July 25, 2019 Paris’s Coolest Attraction – Guide to the city’s underground water cooling system, from the company which built it! Very cool. The Musee d’Orsay’s official record of “Alphonsine Fournaise” complete with provenance History of the Maison Fournaise, from the official museum’s website “Les Yvelines en peinture: la Maison Fournaise de Chatou, vue par Renoir”, Sébastien Birden, Le Parisien, April 22, 2018 “Restored Seine Inn Recalls Fauvism’s Ambience”, Peter Mikelbank, Los Angeles Times, October 21, 1990 “Renoir’s Paradise, And Those Who Loved It”, John Russell, The New York Times, September 29, 1996 “Guess Who Renoir Was In Love With In ‘Luncheon Of The Boating Party'”, Susan Stamberg, NPR, October 26, 2017 “Dance hall daze: lore and lure of guinguettes”, Mary Blume, The New York Times, September 5, 2003 Renoir: An Intimate Biography by Barbara Ehrlich White Les arts en Seine: Le paradis des impressionistes by Benoit Noel, curator of the Maison Fournaise museum “First Impressions”, Michael Balter, Islands Magazine, March-April 1996 Subscribe to the brand new newsletter That’s right – the Land of Desire newsletter is BACK. The revamped newsletter comes in two flavors: free and paid. Free subscribers receive one newsletter per quarter; paid subscribers receive at last one newsletter per month. Subscribe to the newsletter here. Support the Show There are so many ways to support the show! First and foremost, sign up for a paid subscription to The Land of Desire newsletter or contribute via Patreon. If you’re a paid subscriber, chime in on our Substack discussion threads whenever a new newsletter is sent out!  But that’s not all: you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Until next time, au revoir! Join the Discussion Join our Substack discussions (paid subscribers only) Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter (so many GIFs) Follow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live) The post 52. Luncheon of the Boating Party appeared first on The Land of Desire.

  “Plaisir partagé, plaisir doublé.” (“Joy shared, joy doubled.”) ? French proverb It’s our THIRD ANNIVERSARY! I’m celebrating with a listener Q&A! What an amazing ride it’s been. I’ll Thank you again for all your support over the past three years! Episode 51: “3 Year Party! Listener Q&A” Anniversary Reading List Here are the books I recommended in today’s episode – note that I’m using affiliate links, but I own and personally recommend every single one of these. Seven Ages of Paris by Alistair Horne La Belle France by Alistair Horne The Other Paris by Luc Sante The Affair by Jean-Denis Breden When Paris Went Dark by Ronald C. Rosbottom And The Show Went On by Alan Riding The Rape of Europa by Lynn Nicholas A Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert The Vagabond by Colette Lost Illusions by Honoré de Balzac Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas I’ll add these to my recommendations page soon! Support the Show Thank you to everyone who wrote in with questions! If I didn’t get to yours, I’m sorry – I tried to answer just about every question which wasn’t simply a request or a suggestion for a future episode subject. The Q&A doesn’t end here, of course – you’re always welcome and strongly encouraged to ask questions on the show’s Facebook page or through Twitter! And of course, you can contact me directly here. Thank you again to everyone who made a contribution on Patreon! Your Patreon contributions are the only income I receive for the show, and thanks to your support, I don’t have to use advertising. Boo, advertising! We’ve all got Casper mattresses already, right? We fall asleep on them listening to Audible books…you get it. Join the Discussion Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter (so many GIFs) Follow us on Instagram (find out when new episodes go live) The post 51. Our Third Anniversary! Listener Q&A appeared first on The Land of Desire.