Absolutely loved this book. Could not put it down! Sancton gives a fantastic blend of history, true crime, and scandal. The characters of the Bettancourts are fleshed out and he does a fantastic job of separating the fact from the tabloid culture.

3 stars
The Bettencourt Affair is nonfiction book chronicling the history of the L'Oreal family with a major focus on the court case between daughter Francoise Meyers and her mother's favourite, Francois-Marie Banier, and the surrounding scandals. The author was able to interview many of the key figures in the affair for this book and got access to all the courtly data. The writing reminds of me of the narrative style in long Vanity Fair articles (understandable as the author wrote for Vanity Fair). However, the author missed doing something that is absolutely necessary for this book: presenting the reader with an understanding of the main characters. I don't feel that I ever came to understand or know Francoise Meyers, especially because it seems that so much of the book is about Banier, whose descriptions became very creepy at the end. Perhaps the author became to close to Banier in the course of writing this. Additionally, the author kept engaging in pop psychoanalysis of the people, which made this book feel childish and grasping for meaning. That said, I think the book did a tremendous job holding interest, as its gossipy nature and unlikable people should almost certainly have been boring. I think the addition of some plain, bland nonfiction at times brought the book down to earth when it could have remained a gossipy tome on a scandal. His actual efforts at making the book keep your interest, such as including dramatic questions such as "Will she be tried?" made me feel as if I were reading a TV commercial. The author should have just let the mystery of what would happen push the book along.

Side note: this book had the misfortune of being published 2 months early, as Liliane Bettencourt just died, which would have provided a way for the author to reflect on what happened in a more complete way.

A digital copy of this book was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

http://www.literaryhoarders.com/3-5-star-rating-2/the-bettencourt-affair-the-worlds-richest-woman-and-the-scandal-that-rocked-paris/

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Extraordinary detail about a family and company for which I did not know much. Now that I do, I'm not sure I am pleased with the knowledge. Great wealth does not happy families make. Prepare to settle in for a long, involved relationship with them when this book is opened. For lovers of historical nonfiction and dysfunctional families. I received my copy from the p[ublisher through NetGalley.

Let me tell you, the drama is thick on the ground in this one… So is the detail. At times, that detail made the book a bit overwhelming. I do not follow French politics or business, so did not know the vast majority of the names thrown about in the first portion of the book. The background on the origins of L’Oreal, while interesting to a point, was rather lengthy to my mind. The collaborationist nature of Eugène Schueller (the company’s founder) and his Nazi/Vichy sympathies made for interesting reading – again, to a point – but it too felt a bit over-detailed. The drama is real in both of those portions of the book, don’t get me wrong. But it is far eclipsed by the familial relationships – and then, in what was to me the most intriguing part of the book, by the legal battle(s).

The casual attitude toward money – BIG money – which lies at the heart of this story is, quite literally, unfathomable to me. Tens and hundreds of millions of Euros are thrown around with nary the blink of an eye. The L’Oreal fortune is vast even in an era of Big Business money, and Liliane’s sole control of it is rather mind-blowing. She and her husband Andre buy apartments, islands, and (it turns out) politicians with what should be seen as reckless abandon but is instead generally viewed as a regular Tuesday afternoon… When Banier enters the picture, Liliane is older and seemingly jaded by her wealth and life. He injects art, celebrity, vivacity, and a whole new appreciation for what money can buy into a life that, frankly, seems to have become a bit of a chore for the heiress. To Liliane, he is a savior. To her daughter and many of those around her, though, he is something rather different…

The crusade against Banier was the most interesting part of the book for me. I am a lawyer, and although I was never a litigator, litigation and the machinations behind it have always intrigued me. The French judicial system (as with so many French institutions) is different from the American, and seeing how those differences played out (and imagining how they might have gone, had this been a domestic issue) was fascinating to me. The level of detail in these sections of the book was, in all fairness, likely the same as for the others I mentioned earlier, but here the detail felt more appropriate and more engaging. That is likely my interest bias, rather than an actual distinction of merit. Still, from the opening salvos, I found the tale of the legal battles to be most engaging and to read like a legal thriller – particularly with the incorporation of the political elements dragging then-French President Sarkozy into the mix. And just like a legal thriller, when it seemed like things were finally coming together in resolution, the indomitable French judiciary stepped in with a curve ball: French law allows magistrates to unilaterally decide that a case is not over, even if the parties have agreed that it is, if they think laws have been broken. And so it continued until, finally and almost rather anticlimactically despite its lengthy disposition, the storm blew itself it out and everything stopped – leaving, quite literally, death, shattered reputations, and devastation in its wake.

This was a long, drawn-out, Affair – and so, the book. Between the law, the politics (both national and familial), and the personalities, the Bettencourt Affair was a hot mess of deception, he said/she said, scandalous whispers and bitter recriminations from start to finish – and even before and after those. It made for some very entertaining (and often jaw-droppingly unbelievable) reading – but it was also exhausting, and truth be told, I was glad when I finally reached the end. The jealousy, the back-biting, the secrets – I wouldn’t put myself in any of these people’s shoes for all the money in their pockets (and Swiss bank accounts, and hidden tax shelters, and private islands)… If ever anyone needed proof that money doesn’t buy happiness, this would be the tale to show them. This is, more than anything, a tale of frustrated and unreturned feelings: if Eugene had been a different father to Liliane, would she in turn have been a different mother and not felt the need to keep doling out gifts to Banier – a man who, himself, had an indifferent mother and abusive father? Does the whole Affair lie at the feet of jealousy and little-lost-child feelings that the major parties were never able to overcome? Or is it simply a tale of greed and power and the desperate land-grabs by so many for a piece of the L’Oreal fortune? Theories abound, but remain theories. The truth likely lies somewhere in the middle (as it so often does), varying depending on who you ask (again, as it so often does). The story raises as many questions as it answers, so if you are looking for a tidy resolution, you’ll likely be frustrated by it. But if you are intrigued by interpersonal politics and the war of personalities, this one may just be for you…

This book was difficult to read, primarily for two reasons. The writing is dense, full of facts, sometimes overly so. Also, reading about characters who it was impossible to like or feel much sympathy for, I had to put the book down and do something else or read something else to cleanse my palate of a story of greed, jealousy, corruption and immorality. Sure, the lives of the uber rich may not be the same as ours, but the scale of disparity, with no redeeming features, was not always fun to read.
 
Having said that, the book is meticulously researched and very well-written. I also found that the pace picked up, and I flew through the last third of the book. I also learned a great deal about French laws and cultural norms and perhaps some of the seedy reality behind the façade of luxury and style.

The Bettencourt Affair is hard to give a star rating to. Like the French attitude that it mentions, it's hard to feel sympathy for the ultra-rich when there are so many people that live in poverty. On the other hand, the view into just how different the French justice system is from the U.S. was fascinating. Also, learning more about the WWII machinations of L'Oreal's founder, Eugène Schueller, was eye-opening and while I am all for the idea that the kids are not responsible for the parent's foibles, I honestly don't think I will ever look at their products the same way again and already wasn't in the habit of buying them because there are other product lines that I like better.

While not important to the case, I'm offended that Lillian just accepted her father's racism and still adored his memory, especially after her only child married a Jewish man. Call me crazy, but all of that money given to some useless gadfly could have done so much more trying to educate people of our terrible history of racism and attempt to open their hearts to all.

Lastly, there is family strife and Alzheimer's. As Tolstoy said, "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." The person in my family that was the strongest, that we all respected, and looked to for direction was laid low by Alzheimer's. Lillian Bettencourt seems to have been an even powerful force now laid low by the same disease. While it seemed like money grubbing to many, I applaud her daughter for her years of work and court cases. I wish they could have found more common ground when they were both younger and it mattered, but in the end, her daughter was protecting her mom. I can't fault that.

The book was ultimately readable and as I said, the wheels of French justice are so different from ours, that it was interesting. My only complaint is that there were a lot of players in this saga, however, Sancton did a really great job of keeping them all straight for his readers without being condescending or a creating a flowchart.

In the end, there was a lot more to like than to dislike, so I gave it 4 stars. Most non-fiction isn't for every reader and this is true here, but that doesn't mean it is a "meh" book.

This book offers the reader tons of fun. It is literally the best drama/reality show and soap opera I've ever read. The names involved are at the peak of French society, fashion and art. So many names (that I knew) were dropped. It's like a history lesson of the ways of the fashion, business and political elite. I would think it was a marvelous work of fiction, if it weren't so well-researched and documented. It's alot to digest, but I will definitely go back and read it again. A thoroughly juicy tale!

I was not familiar with the Bettencourt Affair or any of the people involved before reading Scanton's latest book. I was also reading this as an e-book which is why I may have found the beginning of the story to be confusing. Scanton has generously included a list of characters and brief descriptions in the back of the book which would've made my journey smoother if I noticed it earlier. Overall, a well-researched and non-biased look at a recent European controversy

A Great Fortune, A Lonely Woman, A Con-man, and a Jealous Daughter

Liliane Bettencourt, heir to the L’Oréal cosmetics fortune, is one of the world’s richest women. Married to Andre Bettencourt, a politican, Liliane became tired of her bourgeois life. She met and was attracted to Francois-Marie Banier. Banier was an artist and photographer and a member of artistic society that fascinated Liliane. Infatuated with him, she presented him with hundreds of millions of euros worth of real estate, paintings, and cash. Andre didn’t complain about the money. He said it was her’s to do as she wished.

Liliane’s daughter, Francoise, thought differently about Banier and the family fortune believing that he was taking advantage of her mother. She had not been particularly close to her mother, probably because Liliane was not a maternal person and was absent during the early years of Francoise’s life taking a tuberculosis cure, The rupture never healed. When Liliane started becoming confused. (She is presently suffering from Alzheimer’s.) Francoise filed a law suit against Banier.

The lawsuit devolved into a major scandal involving corporate secrets, WWII relations with the Nazis, Swiss Bank accounts, and political payoffs.

This is a fascinating book. The unusual characters, tangled emotions, and high level political maneuvering makes the book read more like fiction than history. The book is very well researched, going in depth on the background of the characters as well as the trial.

For me, the book started rather slowly with the history of the L’Oréal Company founded by her father Charles Schueller, a brilliant chemist and business man. This history is important to the rest of the story, so it’s necessary in order to understand the later trial, but it did make the early chapters slow when you’re interested in the scandalous trial.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

Liliane is one of the world's richest women. As she ages, she begins giving lavish gifts to Banier, a friend. Her daughter Liliane is furious, believing that Banier is taking advantage of her mother.

Although I was interested in this story, the book itself was very boring. It was just a recitation of fact after fact. It was very dry. Overall, a bust.

This is a fascinating story which I remember reading about in the newspapers, and this book really brings the characters to life and gives us a peek into a lifestyle that most of us can only dream of. I was completely drawn into the story from the first page to the very end.