Pavilions of the heart;: The four walls of love - Hardcover

Lesley Blanch, 1904-2007, was at heart a nomad. She travelled extensively and adventurously throughout her extraordinary life although her great passion was always for the Middle East and Russia. Married to the French diplomat and writer, Romain Gary, for 18 years, Blanch became arts features editor of Vogue in the thirties and turned to writing and journalism soon after. She was Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the author of The Sabres of Paradise, Pierre Loti (both Tauris Parke Paperbacks) and the bestselling The Wilder Shores of Love among many others. At the time of her death she was writing her autobiography, the sequel to her acclaimed Journey Into the Mind's Eye. An inspiration to generations of writers, readers and travellers, Lesley Blanch was, in the words of Philip Mansel, *not a school, a trend, or a fashion, but a true original.*

*Pavilions of the Heart is the story of the dwellings where great loves have been lived. Lesley Blanch's sumptuous prose matches the intensity of the emotions she evokes.* -- Shusha Guppy
*There is something of a cult around Lesley Blanch. Philip Mansel calls her 'not a school, a trend, or a fashion, but a true original'.* -- Joe Boyd, Guardian
PRAISE FOR LESLEY BLANCH'S WORK
The Wilder Shores of Love
*A scholarly romantic in a school of her own, the depth of Lesley Blanch's research is such that other writers plunder her books shamelessly.* -- Maureen Cleave, Daily Telegraph
*I am enchanted with Lesley Blanch's book. I believe that it is a classic of the belles lettres genre. It is a book of such radiance and strength.* -- Carson McCullers
The Sabres of Paradise
*I can imagine no better introduction to modern Russia.* -- New York Times Book Review
*Crammed with truly fabulous stories.. . a profound and exhilarating book.* -- Guardian
*A masterly account.. . ominously relevant to today's conflict. Lesley Blanch's portrait of Shamyl, the Chechen leader-prophet, is widely admired.* -- The Times
Journey into the Mind's Eye
*The stuff that dreams are made of...* -- Daily Telegraph
*One of the finest books about Russia ... one of the best travel books of its generation.* -- Spectator
Pierre Loti
*What makes Loti so extraordinary and this book so enthralling is not that he was an escapist, but that he was an escapologist. Lesley Blanchis a most congenial biographer for this eccentric man ... She has a natural sympathy with people who live out their fantasies ....* -- New York Review of Books
*Lesley Blanch has written an exceptionally good biography of an exceptionally interesting man. Even if you have never heard of Loti until this minute, even if you never plan to read any of his books, I recommend it to you.* --Washington