Review: The Saint Laurent Muse

The Saint Laurent Muse by C.W. Gortner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 Stars

Sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll -but with a LOT more sex and drugs---I mean tons! However, the sex doesn't really get explicit until near the end of the book.

At any rate, that was my warning. Now, on to the meat of the review.

This book would have been my cup of tea had the drug use and sex not been so explicit. I know the '70s were a lot different, with different types of drugs being favored and AIDS just coming into play. I also understand that these arty types had a different life to lead than I did. (Yes, I admit I was a teen in the '70s!) I hadn't even seen cocaine until I was nearly 30! These explicit scenes needed to be part of the story if we are to believe that this was a historical/ biographical writing about Yves Saint Laurent and Loulou de la Falaise. It must be true.

I learned a lot about the "dawning of the age of Aquarius" that I had never seen before, and, of course, about the life of a haute couture designer who goes to ready-to-wear.

An interesting, thought-provoking read that just didn't do it for me. Would I recommend this book? Yes, I would becuase just because it wasn't for me, I can see that there are going to be many out there (especially those in my age bracket) that are going to love this gossipy inside scoop to the elite of the haute couture world.

A lot of good gossip (or fiction) about Karl Lagerfeld and others of his ilk.

Depressing, well just a bit; backstabby and vicious---oh my yes!

*ARC provided by the publisher William Morrow and Company, the author, and NetGalley.

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SYNOPSIS: "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 fast-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 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."