“Deborah Davis, a film executive and story editor for major motion picture companies, wrote this book about "Madame X," whose true identity was Virginie Amelie Gautreau (Amelie) Amelie was a member of high social standing in Paris in the 1880s and a flamboyant beauty. John Singer Sargent was an ambitious, fame-hungry painter who painted Amelie as "Madame X." Despite the decadence of the upper classes in Paris at that time, the painting was considered scandalous because one of the straps of Amelie's gown was off her shoulder. The painting received horribly unfavorable reviews and Amelie herself fell out of favor. I read this for a book club that plans to tour a museum when this famous painting is on display in Salt Lake.
I loved this book because French society is so vividly and shockingly portrayed--a slice of life with which I was totally unfamiliar.”
