A witty and charming account of the wildly entertaining Elsie de Wolfe
in 1950s Hollywood, recounted by her dear friend, the beloved creator of
Madeline
Ludwig Bemelmans' charming intergenerational friendship with the
late-in-life "First Lady of Interior Decoration" provides an enormously
enjoyable nostalgia trip to the sun-soaked glamour of Los Angeles, where
de Wolfe surrounded herself with classic movie stars and a luminous
parade of life's oddities.
With hilarity and mischief that de Wolfe would no doubt approve, To the
One I Love the Best lifts the curtain on 1950s Hollywood--a bygone
world of extravagance and eccentricity, where the parties are held in
circus tents and populated by ravishing movie stars.
Bemelmans, who was working at MGM, had originally come to the California
home of de Wolfe just for cocktails but 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'.
To the One I Love the Best (which refers to de Wolfe's dog) is a
touching tribute to a fabulously funny woman and an American icon.
Be pretty if you can, be witty if you must, but be gracious if it kills
you. - Elsie de Wolfe
