The Riviera Set: Glitz, Glamour, and the Hidden World of High Society

The Château de l’Horizon served as a social hub on the French Riviera between the 1920s and ’60s, and here Lovell (The Churchills: In Love and War) presents a textured and meticulously researched history of a scintillating era on the Mediterranean coast. The author deftly juggles a vast array of characters, most notably the château’s indomitable visionary and hostess nonpareil, Maxine Elliott, and her close friend Winston Churchill, whose rejuvenating visits, as Lowell reveals, were vital to his reemergence onto the political stage on the eve of World War II. The first quarter of the book serves as a prechâteau biography of Elliott, highlighting the allure of her beloved property as a site for the rich and royal to revel in the architecture, fashion, and decor. Lovell illustrates that Elliott’s guests were well-known around the world, and their dalliances at the château were both historically relevant and highly entertaining. Lovell bridges the Edwardian age and postwar Europe, as cultural and political shifts brought more Americans and money usurped style as the most valuable currency in the region. Photos. (Sept.)