A Dangerous Woman: American Beauty, Noted Philanthropist, Nazi Collaborator; The Life of Florence Gould

Ronald (Hitler’s Art Thief) provides an unvarnished account of the life of avant-garde socialite Florence Lacaze Gould, whose dazzling, gilded lifestyle belied her dark side as a libertine, Nazi collaborator, and war profiteer. Born in San Francisco in 1895, Florence spent much of her childhood in Paris after her family was displaced by the 1906 earthquake. After a brief marriage to millionaire Henry Heynemann, Florence wed Frank Gould, scion of a railroad mogul, in 1923. They maintained an open marriage (Charlie Chaplin, Harpo Marx, and Pablo Picasso were among her many lovers). Known as a great beauty with “sexually charged allure,” Florence was also a sharp businesswoman who owned successful casinos, restaurants, and hotels. Ronald sprinkles the narrative with vignettes of high society in Paris during the roaring ’20s and ’30s; Florence hosted a salon for the literati during the Nazi occupation years, during which she also bought looted artwork, bribed and bedded members of the Gestapo, and was caught up in a banking scandal. Although Florence’s letters and photographs were inaccessible to the author, Ronald compensates with layers of research into the period and surrounding players. While the dense historical detail may deter lay readers, history lovers will welcome this impressive book about a captivating, flawed woman. [em](Feb.) [/em]