The Gilded Chalet : Off-piste in Literary Switzerland

Rainy summer of 1816. Paparazzi train their telescopes across Lake Geneva on the hanky-panky of Byron, Shelley and their womenfolk. Mary Shelley is inspired to write Frankenstein. Byron diets and dashes off The Prisoner of Chillon while his doctor, 'Pollydolly', gives birth to The Vampyre. Percy Shelley almost drowns in the lake. Together they put Switzerland on the literary map. From Caesar, Rousseau and the Romantics, from Conan Doyle to le Carré, Hesse and Highsmith writers have scratched their names on the Swiss chalet. In the nineteenth century they came for fresh air, fresh milk and the sublime scenery, escaping tuberculosis and smog. Switzerland became spa central, a place of health fads, luxury hotels and nude sunbathing. Sherlock Holmes fell to his death only to be resurrected. H. G. Wells thought he'd died and gone to heaven. Hermann Hesse had himself buried to the neck as a cure for alcoholism. Thomas Mann wrote The Magic Mountain and lusted after the sailor... 'with A Sharp Eye For Detail And A Historian's Capacious Knowledge, Padraig Rooney Has Written A Superbly Amusing Guide To All The Writers Who've Been Drawn To Or Emerged From Switzerland. This Is A Book That Should Be Stuffed Into Every Stocking - The Perfect Christmas Gift!' -edmund White, Author Of The Flaneur Rainy Summer Of 1816. Paparazzi Train Their Telescopes Across Lake Geneva On The Hanky-panky Of Byron, Shelley And Their Womenfolk. Mary Shelley Is Inspired To Write Frankenstein . Byron Diets And Dashes Off The Prisoner Of Chillon While His Doctor, 'pollydolly', Gives Birth To The Vampyre . Percy Shelley Almost Drowns In The Lake. Together They Put Switzerland On The Literary Map. From Caesar, Rousseau And The Romantics, From Conan Doyle To Le Carre, Hesse And Highsmith Writers Have Scratched Their Names On The Swiss Chalet. In The Nineteenth Century They Came For Fresh Air, Fresh Milk And The Sublime Scenery, Escaping Tuberculosis And Smog.^ Switzerland Became Spa Central, A Place Of Health Fads, Luxury Hotels And Nude Sunbathing. Sherlock Holmes Fell To His Death Only To Be Resurrected. H. G. Wells Thought He'd Died And Gone To Heaven. Hermann Hesse Had Himself Buried To The Neck As A Cure For Alcoholism. Thomas Mann Wrote The Magic Mountain And Lusted After The Sailor Suits. Neutral Switzerland Became A Haven In The Twentieth Century For Borges, Joyce, Remarque, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Nabokov And Highsmith. They Wrote Their Classic Works Up Some Secluded Valley, In A Coldwater Flat In Zurich Or In A Five-star Hotel. The Gilded Chalet Took Them In And Gave Them A Suite With A View. Anarchists, Spies And Detectives Came Too. Sherlock Holmes, Maugham's Ashenden, Fleming's Bond, Le Carre's Spooks And Double Agents. Glauser And Durrenmatt Invented Swiss Noir - Not A Chocolate But A Style. Behind The Squeaky-clean Facade, Swiss And Foreign Writers Often Found Something Rotten In The State.^ Laundered Art And Money, The World's Slush Funds, Daylight Robbery. Switzerland's Travel Writers Maillart, Eberhardt, Schwarzenbach And Bouvier Couldn't Wait To Make Their Escape To A Bigger Air And A Warmer Climate. The Gilded Chalet Is Crammed With Old Lederhosen And New Butterflies, Spas And Spies, Fool's Gold And Numbered Accounts. Part Detective Work, Part Treasure Chest, Full Of History And Scandal, Award-winning Writer Padraig Rooney Takes You On A Grand Tour Of Two Centuries Of Great Writing By Both Swiss And Foreign Authors And Shows How Switzerland Has Always Been At The Center Of Literary Europe. Padraig Rooney. 'With a sharp eye for detail and a historian's capacious knowledge, Padraig Rooney has written a superbly amusing guide to all the writers who've been drawn to or emerged from Switzerland. This is a book that should be stuffed into every stocking - the perfect Christmas gift!' -Edmund White, author of The Flaneur Rainy summer of 1816. Paparazzi train their telescopes across Lake Geneva on the hanky-panky of Byron, Shelley and their womenfolk. Mary Shelley is inspired to write Frankenstein . Byron diets and dashes off The Prisoner of Chillon while his doctor, 'Pollydolly', gives birth to The Vampyre . Percy Shelley almost drowns in the lake. Together they put Switzerland on the literary map. From Caesar, Rousseau and the Romantics, from Conan Doyle to le Carre, Hesse and Highsmith writers have scratched their names on the Swiss chalet. In the nineteenth century they came for fresh air, fresh milk and the sublime scenery, escaping tuberculosis and smog. Switzerland became spa central a a place of health fads, luxury hotels and nude sunbathing. Sherlock Holmes fell to his death only to be resurrected. H. G. Wells thought he'd died and gone to heaven. Hermann Hesse had himself buried to the neck as a cure for alcoholism. Thomas Mann wrote The Magic Mountain and lusted after the sailor suits. Neutral Switzerland became a haven in the twentieth century for Borges, Joyce, Remarque, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Nabokov and Highsmith. They wrote their classic works up some secluded valley, in a coldwater flat in Zurich or in a five-star hotel. The Gilded Chalet took them in and gave them a suite with a view. Anarchists, spies and detectives came too. Sherlock Holmes, Maugham's Ashenden, Fleming's Bond, le Carre's spooks and double agents. Glauser and Durrenmatt invented Swiss noir - not a chocolate but a style. Behind the squeaky-clean facade, Swiss and foreign writers often found something rotten in the state. Laundered art and money, the world's slush funds, daylight robbery a Switzerland's travel writers Maillart, Eberhardt, Schwarzenbach and Bouvier couldn't wait to make their escape to a bigger air and a warmer climate. The Gilded Chalet is crammed with old lederhosen and new butterflies, spas and spies, fool's gold and numbered accounts. Part detective work, part treasure chest, full of history and scandal, award-winning writer Padraig Rooney takes you on a grand tour of two centuries of great writing by both Swiss and foreign authors and shows how Switzerland has always been at the center of literary Europe In the summer of 1816 paparazzi trained their telescopes on the goings on of poets Byron and Shelley - and their womenfolk - across Lake Geneva. Mary Shelley babysat and wrote Frankenstein. Byron dieted and penned The Prisoner of Chillon. His doctor, Polidori, was dreaming up The Vampyre. Together they put Switzerland on the map. Switzerland has always provided a refuge for writers attracted to it as an escape from world wars, oppression, tuberculosis - or marriage. While often for Swiss writers from Rousseau to Bouvier the country was like a gilded prison or sanatorium. The Romantics, the utopians (Wells, D. H. Lawrence) and other spiritual seekers (Hesse), viewed Switzerland as a land of milk and honey, as nature's paradise. In the twentieth century, spying in neutral Switzerland, spawned espionage and detective fiction from Conan Doyle to Maugham, Fleming, and Le Carr. Padraig Rooney peers through the chalet windows and finds the rooms crammed with curios: lederhosen and Lepidoptera, spas and spies, fool's gold and numbered accounts. Literary detective work and treasure chest, history and scandal, The Gilded Chalet will make you strap on your skis and come off-piste to find out the real Swiss story. Part detective work, part treasure chest, full of history and scandal, The Gilded Chalet takes you on a grand tour of two centuries of great writing by both Swiss and foreign authors and shows how Switzerland has always been at the center of literary Europe. Two centuries after the Romantics went there to invent Gothic horror, the lure of Switzerland hasn't left us. Writers from the Fitzgeralds to Fleming, Highsmith to Hemingway, Conan Doyle to le Carré, came to escape world wars, political persecution, tuberculosis. They came for sanctuary (from oppression or the tax man), for fresh air and nude sunbathing, for scenery resembling, as Rooney puts it,'Mother Nature on steroids.'Patricia Highsmith spent her last years in a granite home in Ticino with a fridge containing little but peanut butter and vodka. Hermann Hesse had himself buried to the neck as a cure for alcoholism. Nabokov chased butterflies and played tennis on the hotel courts. When it comes to literature, it seems all roads lead to Switzerland. Padraig Rooney peers through the chalet windows and discovers how Switzerland has influenced some of the greatest authors and characters of literature. "The Gilded Chalet takes you on a grand tour of two centuries of great writing by both Swiss and foreign authors and shows how Switzerland has always been at the center of literary Europe"-- Provided by publisher