
About

Maureen Emerson
Maureen, from an Irish-Austrian background, grew up in London – for which she is eternally grateful. She brought up her family in North Africa, Lebanon, Dallas and Singapore, before settling in Provence for twenty-two years. There she worked as a local co-ordinator for CBS and NBC at media festivals in Cannes.
During her years in Provence Maureen became enthralled with the stories of those expatriates who lived on the Riviera in the 1920s and 1930s and how the Second World War affected their lives. While still harbouring a strong affection for Provence, Maureen has now settled in Richmond upon Thames, via Sussex, with her husband.
Read Maureen’s fascinating biography, as published
in ‘The Monaco Woman’ magazine here.
Books
In 2018, ‘Riviera Dreaming’ was published by Tauris. ‘Riviera Dreaming – Love and War on the Côte d’Azur’ is the factual biography of Barry Dierks, ‘the American architect of the Riviera’ who build or remodelled around 70 of the most stunning villas on the coast of the South of France in the first half of the 20th century. The story tells of the life of Barry, his partner in business and life, the Englishman Colonel Eric Sawyer, and their wonderful villas and gardens. Above all, it describes the intimate lives of some of those fascinating people American, British and French, who had the privilege of commissioning and living in these villas. In 1940, as virtually all the expatriates in the south fled France, Barry and Eric stayed on and their charmed lives changed dramatically. Visit the Villas page for video and audio clips.
Her first book, ‘Escape to Provence’, is published by Chapter & Verse Books and is also available on Amazon as a Kindle e-book. It is the true story of two remarkable women who, with style and energy, in the tremulous peace between two world wars, carved out new lives for themselves in a village in the South of France. An American from Philadelphia, Elisabeth Parrish Starr a heroine of the Great War, and an Englishwoman, the author Winifred (Peggy) Fortescue, whose memoir Perfume from Provence became a best-seller of the 1930s and ’40s, both escaped to Provence for quite different reasons. Elisabeth as the result of a personal tragedy involving the nephew of President Theodore Roosevelt, and Peggy because she and her husband felt that in Provence ‘one could be poor with dignity’. It was first published in 2008 and re-printed in 2009.

Her first book, ‘Escape to Provence’, is published by Chapter & Verse Books and is also available on Amazon as a Kindle e-book. It is the true story of two remarkable women who, with style and energy, in the tremulous peace between two world wars, carved out new lives for themselves in a village in the South of France. An American from Philadelphia, Elisabeth Parrish Starr a heroine of the Great War, and an Englishwoman, the author Winifred (Peggy) Fortescue, whose memoir Perfume from Provence became a best-seller of the 1930s and ’40s, both escaped to Provence for quite different reasons. Elisabeth as the result of a personal tragedy involving the nephew of President Theodore Roosevelt, and Peggy because she and her husband felt that in Provence ‘one could be poor with dignity’. It was first published in 2008 and re-printed in 2009.
Maureen is now researching her new biography – ‘The Russians of the Riviera’. The story will follow the progress of the Russian court, from around the mid-19th century, as many of its members became the ‘other expatriates’, as opposed to the British colony who had established themselves in Cannes. The Russians would generally prefer the stretch of the Riviera from Nice to Menton. Along with the immensely rich and self-indulgent members of the court, who arrived by boat or the royal train from St Petersburgh, so also came their artists and writers. When the revolution put an end to the Romanov dynasty, their aristocrats and landowners, many returned to the south of France as hotel concierges, minor clerks, butlers or taxi drivers. They too have their stories. Now, in the present day, the Russians have returned, and in yet another form.
Availability – Buy now with the links below!
‘Escape to Provence’ is currently only obtainable in Kindle edition from Amazon at just £4.80 U.K. This version does not contain the photographs in the printed edition but they are all available in a gallery at the bottom of the ‘Escape to Provence’ page. Click here.
‘Riviera Dreaming’ is available from Amazon priced at £14.40 U.K. for the Kindle edition and £14.68 U.K. for the hardback edition. Also available in good bookshops. Click here.
‘Courage’ is only available as a Kindle edition from Amazon priced at £2.18 U.K. or free from Kindle Unlimited. Click here.
Read Sample Chapters from Maureen’s Books
At the bottom of each book page you will find a link to purchase the book from Amazon UK. This also provides the opportunity to sample each book by reading the introduction and first chapter! At present ‘Escape to Provence’ and ‘Courage’ are only available as Kindle editions. ‘Riviera Dreaming’ is available in hardback and Kindle editions.
Articles, Features & Updates
Maureen has also researched and published articles, which can be found on this website, on the history of the Anglo American Sunny Bank Hospital in Cannes, Resistance Heroine Hélène Vagliano, Sir John Fortescue, Spitfire Pilot Richard Hillary, Eric Dunstan (‘the man with the golden voice’), Olga Khokhlova and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, (‘Russians of the Riviera’), and many more!
UPDATE | TOPIC | LINK |
---|---|---|
May 2020 | From Ascot to Cannes - Hélène Vagliano - Resistance Heroine | VIEW |
May 2020 | From Windsor to Provence - Sir John Fortescue - Perfume from Provence | VIEW |
May 2020 | The English Riviera - Sunny Bank Hospital - 'Be ill in your own language' | VIEW |
June 2020 | The French Riviera - La Pausa - Before Chanel | VIEW |
June 2020 | Richard Hillary - WWII RAF Spitfire Pilot | VIEW |
June 2020 | The French Riviera - Affair of The Hotel Martinez, Cannes | VIEW |
July 2020 | A short film narrated by Eric Dunstan, ('the man with the golden voice') | VIEW |
September 2020 | The English Riviera - Eric Dunstan Story - (‘the man with the golden voice’) Including an audio of his voice | VIEW |
September 2020 | The American Riviera - La Turbie | VIEW |
December 2020 | Maureens's biography - now available to read in full | VIEW |
January 2021 | The Franco American Revolution - The Birth of America | VIEW |
February 2021 | The English Riviera - Lord Derby - The Lost Villa Sansovino | VIEW |
February 2021 | The Russian Riviera - Olga Stepahovna Khokhlova | VIEW |
February 2021 | A film by Maureen telling how 'Escape to Provence' came about has been added to the foot of the Gallery page | VIEW |
February 2021 | A fim of Maureen being interviewed by Anna Fill for 'Riviera Woman' magazine | VIEW |
March 2021 | The Riviera of the 1920’s | VIEW |
March 2021 | The Hungarian Riviera - Baroness Orczy | VIEW |
May 2021 | The British/Italian Riviera - W O Bentley and The Bentley Boys | VIEW |
June 2021 | The Scottish Riviera - Donald Caskie - Resistant Pastor | VIEW |
August 2021 | The French Riviera - Claude Marcus’s Story Occupation to Liberation | VIEW |
August 2021 | The Riviera in Turmoil - Careless Consuls and Unbearable Boats | VIEW |
April 2022 | The American Riviera - James Gordon Bennett | VIEW |
February 2023 | The Russian Riviera - Tsarina Alexandra Feodorova | VIEW |
February 2023 | Tales of the Old Riviera - Somerset Maugham | VIEW |
March 2023 | Barry Dierks Villas - Illustrated | VIEW |
March 2023 | Occupied France – The Free French Journal | VIEW |
June 2025 | All books available via Amazon UK - some prices reduced | VIEW |
October 2025 | The Russian Riviera - updated photos | VIEW |


For more information about Maureen and her career as a writer click here to read an interview with ‘Riviera Buzz’ Magazine.
You can also enjoy a short video about her work on the Gallery page.
