Mireillle grew up in the French countryside during the Nazi occupation. After her father passes, life becomes difficult and she lives a Cinderella-like existence with a jealous stepmother and her abusive boyfriend. Mireille narrowly escapes the cruelty of her home life to find solace with a childhood friend, Stefan. They become lovers and Mireille believes she has found happiness. Stefan dies as part of the Resistance and Mireille is left pregnant and poor. She finds herself penniless in Paris and difficult to find work with a new baby, Stephanie. Just as her luck has seemed to run out, Mireille meets a rich man who will pay her for an hour of her time and the use of her body. He refers Mireille to Madam Renee’s where she is transformed into l’Ange, the most sought after prostitute in Paris. Mireille’s new profession allows her to care for her daughter and send her to school in Switzerland. It also introduces her to several Hollywood movie producers which gives Mireille a chance to leave behind prostitution for acting. Her new life seems glamorous, but the choices Mireille has made affected her daughter and Mireille will have to choose her own path.

Mireille kept me entertained and enchanted throughout its almost 600 pages. Mireille’s journey is almost like a fairytale where she rises from an abused country girl to high class prostitute to movie-starlet, except we get to see that it is not all glamour and perfection. There are plenty of cliché’s throughout the story, but Mireille's character is intriguing and never boring. Her struggle, rise and fall and her determination to protect her daughter and remember Stephan are what kept me reading. You do have to be ok with a lot of sex, language, rape and drug abuse to be able to enjoy this book. Mireille also took me through a lot of history and around the world, from the end of World War II in France to high class prostitution in Paris to the making of Spaghetti Westerns in Rome and the Golden Age of Hollywood. My favorite part of the story was the very beginning where Mireille was with Stephan, I also think she was bravest after he died. It was interesting to see the parallels between Mireille’s life as a prostitute and her life as an actress. Overall, a sweeping story of survival, overcoming obstacles and remembering your purpose in life.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )