Mr. B or Comforting Thoughts About the Bison A Critical Biography of Robert Benchley Book

Fascinating story of the rise of a young poor girl from St Louis who became the toast of Paris and the rest of Europe, meeting heads of state and royalty. She spied successfully for the French in North Africa during WW2, married four times and bought a chateau which she tried to turn into a centre of brotherhood, adopting 12 children from all over the world to form the core. As her fame grew, so did her ambitions and her money diminished. She grew desperate to raise more funds "to feed my children" whilst still living the life of the grande dame leaving debts in her wake. I began by admiring her climb to fame but she used people appalingly, including her husbands and people soon grew suspicious of her motives. She was an extremely interesting woman who could have done so much more if she'd just stopped to take the advice of those closest to her.