Secrets of a suitcase : the countess, the Nazis, and middle Europe's lost nobility /
"When Pauline Terreehorst bid for a vintage Gucci suitcase at Sotheby's Amsterdam, she had no idea what was inside. The case turned out to be full of fine dresses, furs and lace, with boxes of postcard albums showing grand castles and churches in Austria, France, England and Scotland. The...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Language Notes: | In English, translated from the Dutch. |
| Published: |
London :
Hurst & Company,
2024.
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | "When Pauline Terreehorst bid for a vintage Gucci suitcase at Sotheby's Amsterdam, she had no idea what was inside. The case turned out to be full of fine dresses, furs and lace, with boxes of postcard albums showing grand castles and churches in Austria, France, England and Scotland. The curious correspondence revolved around Austrian philanthropist Countess Margarethe Szapary, and her daughter. These unexpected family treasures are a gateway to a lost world: social, cultural and political life as the Szaparys knew it vanished in twentieth-century Europe's great upheavals. Borders were redrawn, old cities received new names, communities changed loyalties--and Central Europe's cosmopolitan, royalist aristocrats had to decide whether to become Germans under Nazi rule. What did Margarethe choose, when her new neighbour Hermann Goring came knocking with a troubling request? What were the consequences for her and her children? And how did the family's suitcase cross war-torn Europe to end up in Terreehorst's hands decades later?"-- |
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| Item Description: | "Originally published in 2020 as Het geheim van de Gucci-koffer by Uitgeverji Prometheus, Amsterdam." -- Title page verso. |
| Physical Description: | viii, 260 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps, portraits, facsimile, genealogical tables ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781911723394 1911723391 |