"Ambitious, subtle, engrossing" (LES ECHOS)
"An unforgettable novel" (PARIS MATCH)
Ever since childhood, Nelly Alard has had two passions: Empress Elizabeth of Austria -the legendary Sisi- and Hollywood movie stars. When she discovers the story of Elissa Landi, a 1930s film star whose mother, Countess Karoline Zanardi Lands, claimed to be the empress's secret child, Alard decides she needs to know more. After years of digging into the mystery, she manages to find Elissa Landi's daughter, who tells her she believes her grandmother's tale and hands Alard the keys to a behemoth of a family archive, within which lies -or so Aland hopes, along with the reader- the definitive proof that Karoline was telling the truth.
While recounting her investigation and retracing the amazing lives of Karoline and Elissa, Alard takes us through the ups and downs of her own career as an actress, from her promising debuts in Hollywood to her first literary efforts, all related to the empress in one way or another. As we follow the author's long search for her true calling, we become aware of an intricate web of coincidences and echoes between her own existence and those of her three heroines -Elisabeth, Karoline, and Elissa.
Set in Paris, New York, Los Angeles, London and Vienna among other places, and in spite of its rich historical subject matter, award-winning author Nelly Alard's third novel intertwines different epochs and characters with such fluidity that they all come to life, vivid and authentic. Full of surprising twists and witty personal insights, it is as brilliant in its formal aspects as it is thought-provoking and surprising in content. Published in France by Gallimard in 2020, it was enthusiastically received by both audience and press:
