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The temptress : the scandalous life of Alice de Janze and the mysterious death o
Spicer, Paul
Adult Nonfiction HV6535.K43 N347 2010
From Publishers' Weekly:
The 1941 fatal shooting of British earl Joss Erroll in Kenya made headlines worldwide (and was the subject of the book and movie White Mischief). A cuckolded husband was acquitted, and now Kenyan-born former oil executive Spicer intriguingly fingers his late mother's friend, Countess Alice de Janze, Joss's discarded mistress. Alice's complicated and violent love life was possibly attributable to bipolar disorder and to abandonment by her father, a self-made American millionaire, when Alice was 13. Alice married a French count, Frederic de Janze, and to escape the stuffy confines of French society, the couple spent much of their time in Kenya. There Alice had two love affairs that, according to Spicer, goaded Alice to violence: she made a botched murder-suicide attempt in 1927 when English aristocrat Raymund de Trafford rejected her, yet they married in 1932 (Alice had already left her husband). Alice had also begun a two-decade-long liaison with Joss. Though Joss had many enemies, Spicer posits that Alice killed Joss, and months later, at age 42, committed suicide, hoping they would be reunited in the afterlife. The author's depiction of the unstable heiress and her milieu of wealthy expatriates cavorting in the Kenyan highlands is engrossing. 8 pages of b&w photos. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
The 1941 murder of Joss Hay, the 22nd Earl of Erroll, in the British expatriate community of Kenya's Happy Valley, was an international sensation. An unapologetic womanizer, Erroll was assumed to have been shot by a jealous husband. But the author, whose mother knew the participants, believes he was killed by Alice de Janze, his longtime mistress and a woman scorned. Spicer traces the life of the wealthy, selfish, emotionally unstable Alice she previously had shot a man who threatened to leave her. The truth has died with the final witnesses, but the author presents a compelling case. VERDICT A fascinating peek into the famously decadent Kenya between the wars that will appeal to British and African history lovers as well as true crime fans.-Deidre Bray Root, Middletown P.L., OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Spicer, Paul
Adult Nonfiction HV6535.K43 N347 2010
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From Publishers' Weekly:
The 1941 fatal shooting of British earl Joss Erroll in Kenya made headlines worldwide (and was the subject of the book and movie White Mischief). A cuckolded husband was acquitted, and now Kenyan-born former oil executive Spicer intriguingly fingers his late mother's friend, Countess Alice de Janze, Joss's discarded mistress. Alice's complicated and violent love life was possibly attributable to bipolar disorder and to abandonment by her father, a self-made American millionaire, when Alice was 13. Alice married a French count, Frederic de Janze, and to escape the stuffy confines of French society, the couple spent much of their time in Kenya. There Alice had two love affairs that, according to Spicer, goaded Alice to violence: she made a botched murder-suicide attempt in 1927 when English aristocrat Raymund de Trafford rejected her, yet they married in 1932 (Alice had already left her husband). Alice had also begun a two-decade-long liaison with Joss. Though Joss had many enemies, Spicer posits that Alice killed Joss, and months later, at age 42, committed suicide, hoping they would be reunited in the afterlife. The author's depiction of the unstable heiress and her milieu of wealthy expatriates cavorting in the Kenyan highlands is engrossing. 8 pages of b&w photos. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
The 1941 murder of Joss Hay, the 22nd Earl of Erroll, in the British expatriate community of Kenya's Happy Valley, was an international sensation. An unapologetic womanizer, Erroll was assumed to have been shot by a jealous husband. But the author, whose mother knew the participants, believes he was killed by Alice de Janze, his longtime mistress and a woman scorned. Spicer traces the life of the wealthy, selfish, emotionally unstable Alice she previously had shot a man who threatened to leave her. The truth has died with the final witnesses, but the author presents a compelling case. VERDICT A fascinating peek into the famously decadent Kenya between the wars that will appeal to British and African history lovers as well as true crime fans.-Deidre Bray Root, Middletown P.L., OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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