Ludwig Bemelmans came to the California home of famed interior decorator Elsie de Wolfe, Lady Mendl, for cocktails. By the end of the night, he was firmly established as a member of the family: given a bedroom in their sumptuous house, invitations to the most outrageous parties in Hollywood, and the friendship of the larger-than-life woman known to her closest friends simply as 'Mother'. With hilarity and mischief, Bemelmans lifts the curtain on a bygone world of extravagance and eccentricity, where the parties are held in circus tents and populated by ravishing movie stars. To the One I Love the Best is a luminous painting of life's oddities and a touching tribute to a fabulously funny woman.
Ludwig Bemelmans (1898-1962) was a writer and illustrator. He emigrated from Germany to America in 1914, at the age of sixteen, and initially worked in the New York hotel industry before becoming a full-time cartoonist and writer. As an illustrator, he made frequent contributions to the New Yorker and Town and Country and also worked as a screenwriter for MGM. He published many books for both children and adults, including the beloved Madeline children's books.
Title: To the One I Love the Best
Author: Bemelmans, Ludwig
ISBN: 9781782277934
Binding:
Publisher: Pushkin Press
Publication Date: 2022-12-01
Number of Pages: 288
Weight: 0.3675 kg
'The charm of To the One I Love the Best lies in the peerless combination of author and subject' - Lucy Scholes
'One reads Bemelmans not as one reads a serious novelist but for the sheer momentary pleasure given by his evocation of atmosphere and mood' - Punch
'An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein' - Kirkus Reviews (1953)