An NPR Best Book of 2017Heiress to the nearly forty-billion-dollar L’Oréal fortune, Liliane Bettencourt was the world’s richest woman and the fourteenth wealthiest person. But her gilded life took a dark yet fascinating turn in the past decade. At ninety-four, she was embroiled in what has been called the Bettencourt Affair, a scandal that dominated the headlines in France. Why? It’s a tangled web of hidden secrets, divided loyalties, frayed relationships, ...

For the twentieth anniversary of Diana's death, a new, updated edition of the headline-grabbing New York Times bestseller that told the definitive story of how the Princess of Wales lost her life in a high-speed car accident in the heart of Paris on August 31, 1997.What really happened on that fateful summer night? Rumors still abound: that Diana and her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed (son of wealthy Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al Fayed), were planning to marry an...

A riveting, on-the-edge-of-your-seat tale about the notorious 1978 kidnapping of Baron Édouard-Jean “Wado” Empain, intertwined with the story of his famous grandfather, the first baron and builder of the Paris Métro. A multigenerational saga told against the backdrops of both Belle Époque and 1970s high-fashion Paris.What does it take to create a dynasty? What does it take to keep one going? And what does it take to save the life of the dazzling but flawed man who ...

A riveting, on-the-edge-of-your-seat tale about the notorious 1978 kidnapping of Baron Édouard-Jean “Wado” Empain, intertwined with the story of his famous grandfather, the first baron and builder of the Paris Métro. A multigenerational saga told against the backdrops of both Belle Époque and 1970s high-fashion Paris.What does it take to create a dynasty? What does it take to keep one going? And what does it take to save the life of the dazzling but flawed man who ...

In Sweet Land of Liberty, Tom Sancton examines how the French left perceived and used the image of the United States against the backdrop of major historical developments in both countries between the Revolution of 1848 and the Paris Commune of 1871. Along the way, he weaves in the voices of scores of French observers—including those of everyday French citizens as well as those of prominent thinkers and politicians such as Alexis de Tocqueville, Victor Hugo, and Georges Clemenceau...

A New York Times bestseller with an “engaging narrative and array of detail” (The Wall Street Journal), the “intimate and sweeping” (Raleigh News & Observer) untold true story of the Biltmore Estate—the largest private home in America—and the remarkable woman who helped ensure its survival.The story of Biltmore spans World Wars, the Jazz Age, the Depression, and generations of the famous Vanderbilt family, and features a captivat...

**A woman discovers her marriage is built on an illusion in this harrowing and ultimately inspiring memoir.“Be forewarned: You won’t sleep until you finish the last page.”—Caroline Leavitt, author of Cruel Beautiful World**One night. One email. Two realities...Before: Jen Waite has met the partner of her dreams. A handsome, loving man who becomes part of her family, evolving into her husband, her best friend, and the father of her infant d...

She fell in love with him, they married and then she found out who he was: a conman who was determined to destroy her.The instant bestselling story of Lee Mackenzie, who was a capable and confident young woman, studying broadcast journalism and honing her skills of observation and objectivity. She was also a little unworldly, the product of a small, rural Western Canadian community where doors were never locked and life was simple and direct. On a backpacking trip ...

**Winner of the 2018 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-FictionLonglisted for British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction 2018Shortlisted for the 2018 Evelyn Richardson Non-fiction AwardShortlisted for the 2018 Atlantic Book Awards - Margaret and John Savage First Book AwardShortlisted for the 2018 Frank Hegyi Award for Emerging AuthorsAn unforgettable family tale of deception and betrayal, love and forgiveness**Pauline Dakin...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Atmosphere and Daisy Jones & the Six—an entrancing and “wildly addictive journey of a reclusive Hollywood starlet” (PopSugar) as she reflects on her relentless rise to the top and the risks she took, the loves she lost, and the long-held secrets the public could never imagine.**“**Fascinating, emotiona...

Inspired by the most infamous incident involving the Getty family - now a major film directed by Ridley Scott, starring Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Williams and Oscar****® Nominee Christopher PlummerOil tycoon J. Paul Getty created the greatest fortune in America - and came close to destroying his own family in the process. Of his four sons who reached manhood, only one survived relatively unscathed. One killed himself, one became a drug-addicted reclu...

“[A] gossipy, but surprisingly deep, look at the women who help and sometimes overshadow their powerful husbands.” — USA TodayFrom the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the groundbreaking backstairs look at the White House, The Residence, comes an intimate, news-making group biography of the true modern power brokers at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: the First Ladies, from Jackie Kennedy to Michelle Obama.One of the most underestimated—and...