About this item

A revealing biography of Florence Gould, fabulously wealthy socialite and patron of the arts, who hid a dark past as a Nazi collaborator in 1940's Paris.Born in turn-of-the-century San Francisco to French parents, Florence moved to Paris, aged eleven. Believing that only money brought respectability and happiness, she became the third wife of Frank Jay Gould, son of the railway millionaire Jay Gould. She guided Frank's millions into hotels and casinos, creating a luxury hotel and casino empire. She entertained Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, Joseph Kennedy, and many Hollywood stars, like Charlie Chaplin, who became her lover. While the party ended for most Americans after the Crash of 1929, Frank and Florence refused to go home. During the Occupation, Florence took several German lovers and hosted a controversial salon. As the Allies closed in, the unscrupulous Florence became embroiled in a notorious money laundering operation for fleeing high-ranking Nazis. Yet after the war, not only did she avoid prosecution, but her vast fortune bought her respectability as a significant contributor to the Metropolitan Museum and New York University, among many others. It also earned her friends like Este Lauder who obligingly looked the other way. A seductive and utterly amoral woman who loved to say "money doesn't care who owns it", Florence's life proved a strong argument that perhaps money can buy happiness after all.



About the Author

Susan Ronald

Born and raised in the United States, Susan Ronald is a British-American author and biographer. Now living in England for over twenty-five years, she is the author of nine history books ranging across the ages. Her latest book to be published (August 3, 2020 ) is entitled THE AMBASSADOR: JOSEPH P. KENNEDY AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES'S 1938-1940. She is also the author of CONDÉ NAST, A DANGEROUS WOMAN, HITLER'S ART THIEF, HERETIC QUEEN, SHAKESPEARE'S DAUGHTER (a novel) , THE PIRATE QUEEN, THE SANCY BLOOD DIAMOND, AND FRANCE: THE CROSSROADS OF EUROPE. She has also appeared as herself in documentaries and has produced films and has written screenplays.Susan is working on her tenth book (St. Martin's Press/Macmillan) entitled HITLER'S ARISTOCRATS about the powerful Nazis who charmed the elite in Britain and the United States.



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