Queen of the Ritz Hardcover – January 1, 1978
by Samuel Marx
 
From the front flap of this 207 page book: "Blanche Auzello, who with her husband Claude ran the famous Hotel Ritz in Paris during the halcyon twenties and thirties and into the cruel forties of the German Occupation, was born Blanche Rubenstein in Manhattan. This is the moving, frequently funny, always fast-paced story of a remarkable woman, told with affection and literary skill by her nephew, Samuel Marx. On a lark, she and her friend Pearl White (famous star of 'The Perils of Pauline') took off for Paris in the mid-twenties. Although she was to rendezvous with an Egyptian who had introduced her to the high life in New York, she was taken up by Claude Auzello. The marriage had its problems: he was the proper Frenchman who thought a wife should take care of home and hearth while the husband took on a mistress; she was the liberated American woman who thought neither should be the case (although she later gave in on the mistress). This unlikely marriage endured, and she helped Claude run the Ritz with a flair. Walk-on characters include Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, J.P. Morgan, Cole Porter, and many others. The famous and the infamous stayed at the Ritz, where service and discretion were hallmarks. Love affairs, for those who could afford the tab, were carried on in its ornate rooms. Then came the Nazi Occupation, and Blanche found herself helping the French Resistance - while important Nazis were occupying the finest suites at the hotel. She was eventually arrested and spent agonizing time in prison. Through an amazing incident, she was released in time to witness the arrival of American troops to free her beloved city."
 
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