About

Maureen Emerson

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!

UPDATETOPICLINK
May 2020From Ascot to Cannes -
Hélène Vagliano - Resistance Heroine 		VIEW
May 2020From Windsor to Provence -
Sir John Fortescue - Perfume from Provence		VIEW
May 2020The English Riviera -
Sunny Bank Hospital - 'Be ill in your own language'		VIEW
June 2020The French Riviera -
La Pausa - Before Chanel		VIEW
June 2020Richard Hillary -
WWII RAF Spitfire Pilot		VIEW
June 2020The French Riviera -
Affair of The Hotel Martinez, Cannes		VIEW
July 2020A short film narrated by Eric Dunstan,
('the man with the golden voice')		VIEW
September 2020The English Riviera -
Eric Dunstan Story - (‘the man with the golden voice’)
Including an audio of his voice		VIEW
September 2020The American Riviera -
La Turbie		VIEW
December 2020Maureens's biography -
now available to read in full		VIEW
January 2021The Franco American Revolution -
The Birth of America		VIEW
February 2021The English Riviera -
Lord Derby - The Lost Villa Sansovino		VIEW
February 2021The Russian Riviera -
Olga Stepahovna Khokhlova		VIEW
February 2021A film by Maureen telling how
'Escape to Provence' came about has been added to the foot of the Gallery page		VIEW
February 2021A fim of Maureen being interviewed by Anna Fill for 'Riviera Woman' magazineVIEW
March 2021The Riviera of the 1920’sVIEW
March 2021The Hungarian Riviera -
Baroness Orczy		VIEW
May 2021The British/Italian Riviera -
W O Bentley and The Bentley Boys		VIEW
June 2021The Scottish Riviera -
Donald Caskie - Resistant Pastor		VIEW
August 2021The French Riviera -
Claude Marcus’s Story
Occupation to Liberation 		VIEW
August 2021The Riviera in Turmoil -
Careless Consuls and Unbearable Boats		VIEW
April 2022The American Riviera -
James Gordon Bennett		VIEW
February 2023The Russian Riviera -
Tsarina Alexandra Feodorova		VIEW
February 2023Tales of the Old Riviera -
Somerset Maugham		VIEW
March 2023Barry Dierks Villas -
Illustrated		VIEW
March 2023Occupied France –
The Free French Journal		VIEW
June 2025All books available via Amazon UK -
some prices reduced		VIEW
October 2025The Russian Riviera - updated photosVIEW
Riviera Dreaming
Sunny Bank Hospital in Cannes, Resistance Heroine Hélène Vagliano, Sir John Fortescue, Spitfire Pilot Richard Hillary
Maureen Emerson

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.

Riviera Buzz Magazine