The Bugatti Queen: In search of a Motor-Racing Legend [Hardcover]

'Seymour writes with an elegance and verve her subject would have appreciated . . . [An] inspiring rediscovery'

'Seymour’s descriptions of [the races] are spine-tingling . . . [She] excels in conveying the wider social-historical context'

'Sometimes it seems that fame looks after its own, but here is a very well-told tale that shows us otherwise'

'Will have you riveted to your seat . . . Enthralling reading'

Born in 1900 to a soon-to-be-widowed postmaster's wife in a small French village, Helene Delangle's background offered no suggestion of the extraordinary life she was to lead. The first step was to leave the country behind and head to the city -- in this case, a Paris in the grip of an intoxicating 1920s blend of creativity and debauchery. She became a dancer, and then a stripper. But the demi-monde of gauze veils and admirers was not enough. A visit to the Actors' Championships, a uniquely French meeting of the theatrical world with the race-track, opened her eyes to the glamorous combination of machines and speed. Quickly establishing herself as a racer of uncommon talent and audacity, the beautiful woman now known as Helle Nice -- Hellish Nice to her British fans -- then caught the attention of none other than Ettore Bugatti, founder of the marque with which her name will always be associated. And yet, despite the fame and the fortune she amassed in an unprecedented career, she died penniless and alone, an old woman in a crumbling Nice flat surrounded only by memories. THE BUGATTI QUEEN is the story of a great pioneer of motor racing who happened to be a woman. Re-creating her rollercoaster career with great verve and panache, Miranda Seymour brilliantly shows us a life now forgotten -- and makes it unforgettable.

Miranda Seymour is the acclaimed author of the innovative and widely admired A RING OF CONSPIRATORS, a study of Henry James and his circle, and OTTOLINE MORRELL: LIFE ON THE GRAND SCALE, twelve times selected for Book of the Year in 1992. She also writes novels and children's books, and is currently researching the biography of Helle Nice, the pioneer woman racing driver, to be published by Scribner in 2004.