La valse inachevée

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In 1874, at the Redoute ball in Vienna, a young and charming foreign affairs official dances with a masked woman. Their connection is instantaneous. She introduces herself as Gabrielle, but Franz will never see her again. He receives letters and poems from her, and it is not until sixty years later that he learns the truth. In the meantime, Austria experiences a dazzling and dramatic history: the cultural peak of Vienna, the syphilis epidemic, scandals, suicides, and the collapse of the Empire during World War I. Based on real events—letters and poems that have survived—Catherine Clément unfolds this moving historical and fictional tapestry, revealing one of the best-kept secrets of the masked woman from the Redoute ball: Empress Elisabeth of Austria, known as Sissi. Clément masterfully teaches history through captivating stories, blending celebration and study with remarkable joy.