The Saint Laurent Muse - A Novel

The Paris runways of the 70s come to wild and splashy life in this novel of fashion''s "It Girl" Loulou de la Falaise and her life partying and designing with Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, and Halston. Nightlife! Gowns! Cocaine! Glamour! It''s the 1970s, and from hippie London to Warhol''s Factory in New York, reluctant aristocrat Loulou de la Falaise is desperately seeking adventure. She''s escaped an early, unhappy marriage, and arrives on a whim in Paris--the champagne-soaked heart of the fashion world, where the old world of haute couture and the new world of ready-to-wear are vying for supremacy. Glamour, sex, and cocaine nights fuel the Paris fashion scene. Its crown prince is the soulful and intensely gifted Yves Saint Laurent, whose sexy tuxedos for women and chic Rive Gauche boutiques reflect women''s desire for seductive independence, a desire Loulou knows all too well. Loulou''s bohemian flair immediately captures Saint Laurent''s attention, and they embark on a glorious intimate friendship as artist and muse. Together they revel in the excesses of high society, decadent parties, and the hedonistic underworld of gay nightclubs, where the young and beautiful become prey, and dangerous rivalries start to emerge. Their course collides with eccentric designer Karl Lagerfeld, intent on his own conquest. Lagerfeld''s bitter professional rivalry with Yves divides Paris even in an era when anything goes. As Yves plunges into a secret affair with Karl''s enigmatic young companion, and Loulou finds herself falling in love with a colleague''s handsome boyfriend, evanescent illusion and savage deception will bring them to the brink of ruin. Intoxicating and unforgettable, The Saint Laurent Muse is the dramatic story of a lifelong friendship between two kindred spirits, and of a tumultuous time and place in fashion history that will never be seen again.

About the author

C. W. Gortner is the author of many bestselling historical novels—including Mademoiselle Chanel—which have been published in more than twenty countries. He lives in San Francisco.

Summary

“Between the decadence and the dazzling details, I love historical fiction books centered around fashion. And C. W. Gortner’s latest enthralled me. This story transported me to Paris. It was a perfect blend of fiction and fact.” – First for Women
The Paris runways of the 70s come to wild and splashy life in this novel of fashion's “It Girl” Loulou de la Falaise and her life partying and designing with Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, and Halston. Nightlife! Gowns! Cocaine! Glamour!
It’s the 1970s, and from hippie London to Warhol’s Factory in New York, reluctant aristocrat Loulou de la Falaise is desperately seeking adventure. Having escaped an early, unhappy marriage, she arrives on a whim in Paris—the champagne-soaked heart of the fashion world, where the rigid old world of haute couture and the ffast-paced new world of ready-to-wear are vying for supremacy.
Glamour, sex, and cocaine nights fuel the Paris fashion scene. Its crown prince is the soulful and intensely gifted Yves Saint Laurent, whose sexy tuxedos for women and chic Rive Gauche boutiques reflect women’s desire for seductive independence, a desire Loulou knows all too well.
Loulou’s bohemian flair immediately captures Saint Laurent’s attention, and they embark on a glorious intimate friendship as artist and muse. Together they revel in the excesses of high society, decadent parties, and the hedonistic underworld of gay nightclubs, where the young and beautiful become prey, and dangerous rivalries start to emerge. Their course collides with eccentric designer Karl Lagerfeld, intent on his own conquest. Lagerfeld’s bitter professional rivalry with Yves divides Paris even in an era when anything goes. As Yves plunges into a dangerous, secret affair with Karl’s enigmatic young companion, and Loulou finds herself falling in love with a colleague’s handsome boyfriend, evanescent illusion and savage deception will bring them to the brink of ruin.
Intoxicating and unforgettable, The Saint Laurent Muse is the dramatic imagining of a lifelong friendship between two kindred spirits, and of a tumultuous time and place in fashion history that will never be seen again.

Report

"Between the decadence and the dazzling details, I love historical fiction books centered around fashion," says Carissa Mosness, FIRST Assistant Digital Editor. "And C.W. Gortner's latest enthralled me." After leaving her marriage, Loulou de la Falaise flees to Paris during the 1970s to make it in the fashion industry. Then she meets Yves Saint Laurent and they form a friendship that changes the world of fashion forever. "This story transported me to Paris," says Carissa. "It was a perfect blend of fiction and fact." - First for Women
This frothy tale offers maximum 1970s high-fashion zeitgeist at its zenith, right before AIDS brought the party to a screeching halt. It's an endless round of hedonistic decadence-constant drug use, casual sex, emotional dysregulation, and eccentricity-peppered with all the notable names of the day, including Halston, Warhol, Nureyev, and Paloma Picasso"." - Booklist
"A sequin-drenched '70s excess wrapped around the beating heart of friendship." - KATE QUINN, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Alice Network
"Sucked me in by the pearls and never let go. Gortner's imagining of the ultimate fashion icon is equal parts grit and glamour, painting a portrait of a woman who was hugely inspiring but by no means perfect. Oh, and if you can't afford to visit Paris in peak springtime season, reading this book with a glass of wine is a decent substitute." - Glamour on Mademoiselle Chanel
"Absorbing, heartbreaking and salacious-like Chanel's life story . . . a vivid, heartbreaking portrait of Coco Chanel's meteoric rise to fame and her complicated personal life." - Shelf Awareness on Mademoiselle Chanel
"In this deliciously satisfying novel, C.W. Gortner tells the epic, rags-to-riches story of how this brilliant, mercurial, self-created woman became a legend." - Christina Baker Kline, New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train, on Mademoiselle Chanel
"Enticing . . . a well-researched and well-crafted historical novel that leaves the reader satisfied on many levels." - New York Journal of Books on Mademoiselle Chanel
"In a novel as brilliant and complicated as Coco Chanel herself, C. W. Gortner's prose is so electric and luminous it could be a film, and not just any film, but one of the grandest biopics of our time. Divine!" - Erika Robuck, bestselling author of Hemingway's Girl, on Mademoiselle Chanel

Product details

• Authors: C W Gortner, C. W. Gortner, Gortner C. W.
• Publisher: William Morrow
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 19.02.2025
• EAN: 9780063319837
• ISBN: 978-0-06-331983-7
• No. of pages: 336
• Dimensions: 135 mm x 203 mm x 22 mm
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; FICTION / Friendship, Narrative theme: Coming of age, Later 20th century c 1950 to c 1999, Fiction: general and literary, Relating to LGBTQ+ people, FICTION: Women, FICTION: Coming of Age, FICTION: Biographical, FICTION: LGBTQ+ / General, FICTION: Friendship, Biographical fiction / autobiographical fiction, FICTION: Historical / 20th Century / Post-World War II