THE LAST LOVE OF CAMILLE

A fictionization of the true story of Camille and her last love, Liszt. That Dumas, fils, changed the name of Alphonsine Duplessis, famous Parisian courtesan, to Gautier, and assigned to various fictitious characters the roles played by some of Paris' well-known figures, is forgotten, and his version accepted as based on fact. Frances Winwar, whose research in the period is evidenced in her The Life of the Heart (George Sand and her times), here tells the truth as contemporary sources reveal it. The Duplessis was the toast of the Boulevards; her lovers were legion, yet she managed to hold those who were important to her, and to retain an ethereal quality of virginity. Edouard de Perregaux wanted her as his Vicomtesse -- and, near the end of her doomed life, she consented, feeling that a title might give her entree to Franz Liszt's titled circles. But her love for Liszt betrayed her on her wedding night, and she returned to Paris, confident she could hold her last love. It is a tragic story, lushly caparisoned in the mood and tempo of an elegant period. Almost one is persuaded that ""Camille"" is all her adorers thought her. She comes off victor over Liszt, whose love is less than his vanity, while Edouard de Perregaux seems too readily the innocent victim. Its an intriguing story, written in Frances Winwar's luxuriant prose which somehow gives one a sense of identity with a luxurious era.