The Allure of Chanel...

My Mr FF knows of my love for fashion and in particular anything to do with Coco Chanel. I was surprised and delighted this morning when, on returning from his travels, he gave me the dearest little book entitled, The Allure of Chanel. Mr FF has many excellent and adorable qualities and one of his talents is choosing gifts. He has that knack of knowing exactly what I like and what my interests are. It could be said that after so many years of marriage he should know where my enthusiasms lay, but I am sure most woman would agree with me when I say this is not something to be taken for granted. I am so very lucky that Mr FF has superb taste and is still happy to surprise me after all these years.

The Allure of Chanel was written by Paul Morand and first published in France in 1976;  it has only recently been translated into English. At the end of the Second World War Coco Chanel invited writer Paul Morand to St Moritz to begin work on her memoirs. During their time together in Switzerland he made many notes of their conversations but for some reason on his return home he placed these notes in a drawer and forgot about them; they were only found a year after Chanel's death. 

This is a small book, a paperback, compiled from the forgotten notes of Paul Morand. Pushkin Press promises me that I will learn much about Mademoiselle Chanel's philosophy on fashion, her romances (in particular with the Duke of Westminster) and the inside story on the most classic No 5 fragrance. 

According to the Spectator, ....this enchanting, tiny book is the closest anyone can get to a face-to-face with Coco. It's written in her voice ('that voice that gushed forth from her mouth like lava') and in her words ('those words that crackled like dried vines'), and though it's full of lies, omissions and contradictions, there's enough raw truth in it to reflect the extraordinary woman who was Chanel.

Allure; to be attractive, charming and enticing - the French dictionary adds speed of movement and fast pace to the English definition. In either language this word is a fitting description for Coco Chanel. xv