by Rene Steinke
First published 2005
Elsa flees her middle-class German home at nineteen, trading respectability for freedom in 1904 Berlin. She learns to fabricate her history and shock society with outrageous clothing, including men's attire. Her survival depends on attracting wealthy men who open doors to elite circles. Three marriages shape her journey across continents. August, her first husband, is a hashish-addicted architect who introduces her to bohemian life. Franz, August's best friend, seduces her with poetry and charm before dragging her to New York and vanishing. The German baron who becomes her third husband squanders his wealth gambling and deserts her penniless. Each abandonment could destroy her, but Elsa refuses to surrender. She crashes artists' gatherings armed with wit and bizarre costume creations she calls "self-apparel pieces." Her friendship with Marcel Duchamp anchors her in New York's avant-garde scene. Elsa transforms rejection into reinvention, poverty into performance art.
Genres: art, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, biographical-fiction, fashion
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, reinvention
Setting: Berlin, Germany, New York
Period: 1904
368 pages · Hardcover · William Morrow