Title:
Fearless and free : a memoir
Edition:
First English-language edition.
Publication Date:
2025
Publication Information:
New York, NY : Tiny Reparations Books, 2025.
Physical Description:
xiv, 282 pages ; 22 cm.
ISBN:
9780593853696
Abstract:
After stealing the spotlight as a teenaged Broadway performer during the height of the Harlem Renaissance, Josephine then took Paris by storm, dazzling audiences across the Roaring Twenties. In her famous banana skirt, she enraptured royalty and countless fans—Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso among them. She strolled the streets of Paris with her pet cheetah wearing a diamond collar. With her signature flapper bob and enthralling dance moves, she was one of the most recognizable women in the world. When World War II broke out, Josephine became a decorated spy for the French Résistance. Her celebrity worked as her cover, as she hid spies in her entourage and secret messages in her costumes as she traveled. She later joined the Civil Rights movement in the US, boycotting segregated concert venues, and speaking at the March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King Jr. First published in France in 1949, her memoir will now finally be published in English. At last we can hear Josephine in her own voice: charming, passionate, and brave. Her words are thrilling and intimate, like she’s talking with her friends over after-show drinks in her dressing room. Through her own telling, we come to know a woman who danced to the top of the world and left her unforgettable mark on it.
General Note:
"Tiny Reparations Books."
Contents:
From the banks of the Mississippi to the banks of the Seine -- Paris news and views -- First tour of the old and new worlds -- A cinematic turn -- An enormous appetite and soft skin -- How I became a singer -- From the stage to the gramophone -- Four years of adventure -- Secrets from the boudoir -- A final word on the celebrities of the time.
Personal Subject:
Genre:
Language:
English
Additional Language:
Translated into English from the original French text.
