The first actress : a novel of Sarah Bernhardt
(Book)

"From her beginnings as the daughter of a courtesan to her extraordinary transformation into the most celebrated actress of her era, Sarah Bernhardt is brought to life by an internationally bestselling author praised for his historical novels featuring famous women. Told in her own voice, this is Sarah Bernhardt's incandescent story--a fascinating, intimate account of a woman whose unrivaled talent and indomitable spirit has enshrined her in history as the Divine Sarah."--Publisher description.

The daughter of a high-class courtesan, Sarah Bernhardt mother pulled her out of convent school to set her up as a sexual companion to a rich elderly gentleman. Sarah is pregnant and unmarried at sixteen, expected to give up her baby to the nuns, but she refuses to let him go. A natural talent and darkly beautiful, her innovative acting style attracts both admiration and scorn. Amazingly, she is hired by the famed Comédie Française-- only to have her life torn asunder in the savagery of the 1870 Siege of Paris. Amidst the ruins of the city, Sarah nurses wounded soldiers before returning to the Comédie and becoming world famous. -- adapted from jacket