Greenhalgh, Chris: Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky

Coco first became aware of Stravinsky in 1913 when the young designer, who was beginning to make her place in French society, attended the debut performance of the Russian composer's Rite of Spring. Seven years later, when the two meet at a dinner party, an immediate and undeniable connection is forged, and soon Coco invites Stravinsky; his sickly wife, Catherine; and their children to stay at her summer home outside of Paris.

She isn't without her motives, however, and proceeds over time to seduce Stravinsky. As their affair deepens, the reader's heart breaks for Catherine as she struggles with Igor's emotional abandonment.

This finely wrought study in artistic and romantic passion is remarkable for its explicit depiction of the devastation left in the wake of selfishness.