Published 3rd September 2020 by Headline.
From the cover of the book:
THE STORY OF THE SAVOY HOTEL'S FOUNDERS, THROUGH A CENTURY OF LUXURY
"For The Gondoliers-themed birthday dinner, the hotel obligingly flooded the courtyard to conjure the Grand Canal of Venice. Dinner was served on a silk-lined floating gondola, real swans were swimming in the water, and as a final flourish, a baby elephant borrowed from London Zoo pulled a five-foot high birthday cake."
In three generations, the D'Oyly Carte family pioneered the luxury hotel and the modern theatre, propelled Gilbert and Sullivan to lasting stardom, made Oscar Wilde a transatlantic celebrity, inspired a P. G. Wodehouse series, and popularised early jazz, electric lights and Art Deco.
Following the history of the iconic Savoy Hotel through three generations of the D'Oyly Carte family, The Secret Life of the Savoy revives an extraordinary cultural legacy.
**************************************************
The Secret Life Of The Savoy is a fine example of the kind of non-fiction book I like best, as it manages to be completely fascinating, incredibly informative and full of the most salacious tales all at the same time!
This magnificent book takes us through the life and times of the three D'Oyly Cartes who pioneered both the luxury hotel and the modern theatre - from the unstoppable theatre impressario and founder of the feast, Richard; to his son Rupert, who developed and made his own mark on the empire left to him by his father; and finally, to Richard's daughter Bridget, the last of the line of an amazingly talented and tenacious family, who held the fort until her own untimely death in 1985. This was a family blessed with ambition on a scale rarely seen, with both the foresight and vision the bring about a hospitality and entertainment empire not found before on these shores - but their personal lives were also touched with terrible tragedy, and the fast pace of their lives did seem to wear them out rather quickly.
The wealth of historic detail, the number of amazing facts and the liberal sprinkling of famous names in these pages is astonishing, and all credit must go to the author Olivia Williams for the considerable amount of research she must have done to bring us this book in all its glittering glory. It's the kind of book that draws you in and leaves you open mouthed as you consume the text, and would certainly have been a very quick read for me - if it were not for the fact that I found myself stopping on almost every page to say out loud to anyone nearby "Did you know that....?"!
For instance, did you know that: Richard D'Oyly Carte launched the careers of Gilbert and Sullivan with his D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the 1870s and it ran continuously in his family's care for over a century; or that, on the opening of the Savoy Theatre, D'Oyly Carte brought the world the first public building to be wholly lit by electricity, and from his own power station no less? The revelations simply roll of the page as you progress through the book, some of which may tickle the back of your mind as something that you may have heard somewhere or other, but cannot quite remember the details of - although for the most part that they are simply jaw-droppingly staggering.
The Savoy was Britain's first luxury hotel, uniting country house interiors, American comforts and French fine dining, which attracted famous actors, writers, aristocrats, politicians and royalty - and all the shady goings on that follow in their wake. The hotel had its fair share of controversy as a result, including connections with Oscar Wilde's famous gross indecency trial, the death of a young starlet by a cocaine overdose in 1918, and the murder of an Egptian prince by his wife in 1923.
But the magic of the Savoy lived on, and if anything the scandals increased the cachet and mystique of the hotel. The music carried on playing, the 24 hour room service was unstoppable, and the traditions remained in place whatever was going on in the outside world - including through two world wars.
I find it incredibly sad that the dominion of the D'Oyly Carte family ended with Bridget, as the Savoy and her sister hotels and theatres were ostensibly the kind of empire that thrived under the guardianship of a family at the helm. It is clear from everything I have read in this book that everyone connected with the businesses, except possibly for one or two most outrageous examples, thought of themselves as part of a family firm. It was the end of an era when Bridget passed away.
In these modern times, it is interesting to speculate on what will happen to the grande dames of the luxury hotel sector. Perhaps you see no place for venues on this ilk and would like to see them consigned to the pages of the history book. However, I think this would be a mistake. The contribution of the D'Oyly Carte family to our British cultural heritage was considerable and their legacy is definitely worth preserving. I also have a soft spot for the old girl and her deliciously seductive reputation for sticking two fingers up to whatever was going on around her in the real world - we all need a little respite from the hard times after all.
The Secret Life Of The Savoy is available to buy now in hardback, audio, and ebook formats from your favourite book retailer.
This magnificent book takes us through the life and times of the three D'Oyly Cartes who pioneered both the luxury hotel and the modern theatre - from the unstoppable theatre impressario and founder of the feast, Richard; to his son Rupert, who developed and made his own mark on the empire left to him by his father; and finally, to Richard's daughter Bridget, the last of the line of an amazingly talented and tenacious family, who held the fort until her own untimely death in 1985. This was a family blessed with ambition on a scale rarely seen, with both the foresight and vision the bring about a hospitality and entertainment empire not found before on these shores - but their personal lives were also touched with terrible tragedy, and the fast pace of their lives did seem to wear them out rather quickly.
The wealth of historic detail, the number of amazing facts and the liberal sprinkling of famous names in these pages is astonishing, and all credit must go to the author Olivia Williams for the considerable amount of research she must have done to bring us this book in all its glittering glory. It's the kind of book that draws you in and leaves you open mouthed as you consume the text, and would certainly have been a very quick read for me - if it were not for the fact that I found myself stopping on almost every page to say out loud to anyone nearby "Did you know that....?"!
For instance, did you know that: Richard D'Oyly Carte launched the careers of Gilbert and Sullivan with his D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the 1870s and it ran continuously in his family's care for over a century; or that, on the opening of the Savoy Theatre, D'Oyly Carte brought the world the first public building to be wholly lit by electricity, and from his own power station no less? The revelations simply roll of the page as you progress through the book, some of which may tickle the back of your mind as something that you may have heard somewhere or other, but cannot quite remember the details of - although for the most part that they are simply jaw-droppingly staggering.
The Savoy was Britain's first luxury hotel, uniting country house interiors, American comforts and French fine dining, which attracted famous actors, writers, aristocrats, politicians and royalty - and all the shady goings on that follow in their wake. The hotel had its fair share of controversy as a result, including connections with Oscar Wilde's famous gross indecency trial, the death of a young starlet by a cocaine overdose in 1918, and the murder of an Egptian prince by his wife in 1923.
But the magic of the Savoy lived on, and if anything the scandals increased the cachet and mystique of the hotel. The music carried on playing, the 24 hour room service was unstoppable, and the traditions remained in place whatever was going on in the outside world - including through two world wars.
I find it incredibly sad that the dominion of the D'Oyly Carte family ended with Bridget, as the Savoy and her sister hotels and theatres were ostensibly the kind of empire that thrived under the guardianship of a family at the helm. It is clear from everything I have read in this book that everyone connected with the businesses, except possibly for one or two most outrageous examples, thought of themselves as part of a family firm. It was the end of an era when Bridget passed away.
In these modern times, it is interesting to speculate on what will happen to the grande dames of the luxury hotel sector. Perhaps you see no place for venues on this ilk and would like to see them consigned to the pages of the history book. However, I think this would be a mistake. The contribution of the D'Oyly Carte family to our British cultural heritage was considerable and their legacy is definitely worth preserving. I also have a soft spot for the old girl and her deliciously seductive reputation for sticking two fingers up to whatever was going on around her in the real world - we all need a little respite from the hard times after all.
The Secret Life Of The Savoy is available to buy now in hardback, audio, and ebook formats from your favourite book retailer.
Thank you to Caitlin Raynor at Headline for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.
About the author:
Olivia Williams graduated with a scholarship in Modern Hostory from St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where she reamined for her master's degree. In her final year, she won the Rupert Murdoch Scholarship for student journalism. She worked s a trainee journalist at the Daily Mail before writing her first book Gin Glorious Gin. Olivia lives in London, where she is a freelance writer.
Find out more about Olivia on Twitter: @tweetingolivia
No comments:
Post a Comment