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The life story of France's greatest singer, now filmed
as La Vie En Rose
with an introduction by Jean Cocteau
Translated by Peter Trewartha and Andrée Masoin de
Virton
‘Pungent as pastis and Gitânes, vivid as a Lautrec
lithograph’ - BBC Radio 4
Edith Piaf’s life is almost as famous as her work.
With the fortieth anniversary of her death currently being
celebrated with a major retrospective in Paris, Piaf-mania
is at an all-time high. Peter Owen has again acquired the
rights to the official autobiography of the singer. Our previous
Piaf book, My Life, which is now unavailable, recently
completely sold out a second print run.
From her birth (in the Parisian streets, her mother shielded
by two gendarmes) to her death (when her husband allegedly
drove her corpse from the hospital where she died to her flat,
lest her fans think that she had abandoned Paris) her life
story was a rags-to-riches tale like no other.
A street singer discovered by the nightclub owner who gave
her the stage name Piaf (‘sparrow’) she rose to
become a national heroine. Friends with Charlie Chaplin,
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jean Cocteau, Maurice Chevalier and
Marlene Dietrich, she was also at various times chief suspect
for the murder of her mentor, an alcoholic and a drug addict.
But she always seemed to embody - and still does - something
of the spirit of Paris. Following her death in 1963, 40,000
people descended on Père Lachaise cemetery
for her funeral, and many more around the world remain devotees
of her music.
‘Lively and easy to read . . . stamped with her very
individual personality.’ - Times Literary Supplement
'She is unique,” said Jean Cocteau . . . Starkly
recounted in The Wheel of Fortune, the reader may
find a few clues to the nature of that uniqueness.’ - Sunday
Telegraph
‘Generous-hearted and surprisingly modest.’ - Daily
Telegraph
‘The sheer style of the woman, the Parisienne . . .
stands out.’ - Sun
'Her lively and engaging autobiography remains as vivid as
ever.' - Sunday Telegraph
‘Pathos, humour and drama combine to make this
a memorable book.’ - City Magazine
‘Four decades on from her untimely death at the
age of 47, French drama queen Edith Piaf’s own words
are here dusted down and made available in paperback for
the first time. And in resurrecting the past, Piaf’s
publishers have dug up something interesting . . . The
Wheel of Fortune
is a slice of a life cut short.’ - Record
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