On 1 June Weidenfeld & Nicolson publish the UK edition of THE HUSBAND HUNTERS: Social Climbing in London & New York, Anne de Courcy’s sparkling social history of the 'Dollar Princesses' – the young American heiresses who married into the English aristocracy, rescuing crumbling castles and failing estates and gaining titles in return. UK readers can buy W&N’s beautiful hardback and download the audiobook, read by Clare Corbett.
St Martins Press will publish THE HUSBAND HUNTERS in the US in 2018. Charlie Spicer of St Martins and Alan Samson of Weidenfeld have also snapped up Anne’s new project CHANEL’S RIVIERA, for publication in 2020.
British readers are in for another De Courcy treat with THE HUSBAND HUNTERS as she tells how from 1874 – the year that Jennie Jerome, the first known 'Dollar Princess', married Randolph Churchill – to 1905, dozens of young American heiresses married into the British peerage, bringing with them all the fabulous wealth, glamour and sophistication of the Gilded Age. Anne de Courcy sets the stories of these young women and their families in the context of their times and vividly portrays a world where buying a swift route up the social ladder was the order of the day. Based on extensive first-hand research, drawing on diaries, memoirs and letters, this is a richly entertaining and revealing group biography.
CHANEL’S RIVIERA promises to be an equally enthralling take on stormy seasons on the French Riviera, with all the glamour and glitz of the high life interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. From the last golden fling of 1939 and the first Cannes Film Festival, which had to be suspended, to the first post-war festival of cinema, Anne de Courcy will tell another riveting tale, with its glossy motley crew, set against dark times. A fascinating cast includes Winston Churchill, the Windsors, Edith Wharton, Aldous Huxley, P.G. Wodehouse, Somerset Maugham, and of course Coco Chanel.
Anne de Courcy is a best-selling biographer, acclaimed for her first-hand research and engaging books, which not only tell the stories of her subjects’ lives, but depict the social history of the period. Her biographies include THE VICEROY’S DAUGHTERS, DIANA MOSLEY, DEBS AT WAR and SNOWDON. MARGOT AT WAR: LOVE AND BETRAYAL IN DOWNING STREET, 1912-1916 was shortlisted for the Paddy Power Political Book of the Year Award. THE FISHING FLEET spent many weeks on the Sunday Times bestseller list and has been optioned for film and TV, with rights to THE HUSBAND HUNTERS also under negotiation.
See more on Anne’s website here.
Praise for Anne de Courcy:
‘Anne de Courcy combines the perseverance of a social historian with the panache of the novelist’ – The Times
‘De Courcy paints a rich canvas.’ – The Sunday Times
‘De Courcy tells her story with perspicacity and aplomb.’ – The Field
‘Compulsively readable and immaculately researched, popular social history at its very best.’ – The Mail on Sunday
‘A world of glittering house parties, aristocratic immorality and political intrigue in a narrative that reads like a racy novel.’ – Sunday Times