Overview

The adventurous woman nicknamed La Belle Créole is brought to life in this book through the full use of her memoirs, contemporary accounts, and her intimate letters. The fascinating María de las Mercedes Santa Cruz y Montalvo, also known as Mercedes, and later the Comtesse Merlin, was a Cuban-born aristocrat who was years ahead of her time as a writer, a socialite, a salon host, and a participant in the Cuban slavery debate. Raised in Cuba and shipped off to live with her socialite mother in Spain at the age of 13, Mercedes triumphed over the political chaos that blanketed Europe in the Napoleonic days, by charming aristocrats from all sides with her exotic beauty and singing voice. She married General Merlin in Napoleon’s army and discussed painting with Francisco de Goya. In Paris she hosted the city’s premier musical salon where Liszt, Rossini, and great divas of the day performed for Rothschilds, Balzac, and royalty. Celebrated as one of the greatest amateur sopranos of her day, Mercedes also achieved fame as a writer. Her memoirs and travel writings introduced European audiences to 19th-century Cuban society and contributed to the debate over slavery. Mercedes has recently been rediscovered as Cuba’s earliest female author and one who deserves a place in the canon of Latin American literature.

Reviews

“La Belle Créole is an extraordinary tale of a beautiful, warm-hearted woman born into the fabulous wealth of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Cuban aristocracy. Mercedes Santa Cruz y Montalvo (later Countess Merlin) nevertheless found the strength to assert her independence and carve out her own place in the world. In this meticulously researched, fascinating book, Alina García-Lapuerta not only introduces us to an inspiring heroine but shows us what biography at its best can do.” —Jehanne Wake, author of Princess Louise: Queen Victoria’s Unconventional Daughter and Sisters of Fortune: America’s Caton Sisters at Home and Abroad

“A fascinating book about a charming personality who deserves to be remembered.” —Hugh Thomas, author of The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade 1440–1870 and Conquest: Cortes, Montezuma, and the Fall of Old Mexico

“This work marks the first full-length English-language biography of the countess and draws upon her letters, memoirs, and contemporary news accounts to make a highly readable story. An influential biography that will captivate readers of all types.” —Library Journal

Author Biography

Born in Havana, Alina García-Lapuerta holds degrees in international economics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and international relations from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and worked for a number of years in banking. Now based in London with her Spanish American husband and their two children, she spends considerable time in South Florida. She is a member of Biographers International Organization and the Biographers’ Club.