Marie d'Agoult

Drawing on her memoirs, letters, and other unpublished writings, Richard Bolster's engrossing biography sets Marie d'Agoult's eventful life against a backdrop of dramatic political change in France. Courted by many important figures of her day, she married a nobleman and became a member of the court of Charles X. Her passion for music eventually brought her into contact with Liszt, with whom she moved to Italy and had three children. After their idealistic romance degenerated into disenchantment, d'Agoult returned to Paris, began her writing career, and established a salon for artists, reformers, and freethinkers. Bolster explains how George Sand became d'Agoult's friend and then betrayed her by giving Balzac information about her affair with Liszt, which he used in his novel Béatrix. He concludes with a moving account of d'Agoult's last years.