The Bettencourt Affair

The World's Richest Woman and the Scandal That Rocked Paris

By: Tom Sancton

Narrated by: Amanda Carlin

Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Heiress to the nearly 40-billion-dollar L’Oréal fortune, Liliane Bettencourt was the world’s richest woman and the 14th wealthiest person. But her gilded life took a dark yet fascinating turn in the past decade. At 94, she was embroiled in what has been called the Bettencourt Affair, a scandal that dominated the headlines in France. Why? It’s a tangled web of hidden secrets, divided loyalties, frayed relationships, and fractured families, set in the most romantic city - and involving the most glamorous industry - in the world.

The Bettencourt Affair started as a family drama but quickly became a massive scandal, uncovering L’Oréal’s shadowy corporate history and buried World War II secrets. From the Right Bank mansions to the Left Bank artist havens; and from the Bettencourts’ servant quarters to the office of President Nicolas Sarkozy; all of Paris was shaken by the blockbuster case, the shocking reversals, and the surprising final victim.

It all began when Liliane met François-Marie Banier, an artist and photographer who was, in his youth, the toast of Paris and a protégé of Salvador Dalí. Over the next two decades, Banier was given hundreds of millions of dollars in gifts, cash, and insurance policies by Liliane. What, exactly, was their relationship? It wasn’t clear, least of all to Liliane’s daughter and only child, Françoise, who became suspicious of Banier’s motives and filed a lawsuit against him. But Banier has a far different story to tell...

The Bettencourt Affair is part courtroom drama; part upstairs-downstairs tale; and part character-driven story of a complex, fascinating family, and the intruder who nearly tore it apart.

©2017 Tom Sancton (P)2017 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

An NPR Best Book of 2017

"Juicy...the very picture of un grand scandale about the world’s richest woman." (Vanity Fair)

"Liliane Bettencourt, the L’Oréal heiress worth billions, became infatuated with a man 25 years her junior (a former Dalí protégé and an apparent social climber), giving him lavish gifts and even moving to adopt him. The story has all the trappings of a juicy affair, including graft and hidden Nazi sympathies." (Joumana Khatib, The New York Times Book Review Paperback Row)

Read by Siri?

The reader’s voice was very distracting. At times she sounds exactly like Siri, piecing together fragments of words that don’t flow. Other times she sounds like she desperately needs to clear her throat. Story was average. Nothing less. Nothing more.

A sad tale

It was interesting, but I think I would have been much more engrossed if the cast of characters where a part of my cultural society.

As it was, apart from “Sarkozy”, all name-dropping completely missed the mark. I was never wowed.

Overall, it was good – but LOOOONG.

Very good

A very detailed account of the lives of a dysfunctional family. I don' think Banier was trying to steal from her. I think she was a lonely old woman who should have been able to spend her money how she pleased. I think the daughter was more about the money.

great story

very well written, with detailed background. always wanted to know the story. Very well narrated

It picked up about halfway through

It picked up about halfway through. Before that I kept wondering why I had chosen to read/ listen to this title. Total rating, in spite of all the "critical raves" is meh.

An era that is no longer

Its astonishing this happened in this decade. Tragic. But well written and narrated. Its like slowing down to see the car crash. I hope these people find their happiness and goodness.

The things we do for money

If this was fiction people would say it is to farfetched
What I like about this book are several
One a deep appreciation for the U. S. Judicial system
Two the book gave you great detail from the beginning all the way up today.
My only complaint and it is no fault of author. Is the names are in French. I had hart time keeping people straight who was who.

love the French voice reading

This story is, of course, amazing....but the French voice reading it to me was spectacular!

Impossible to listen to.

This is a great story. The Vanity Fair piece was riveting. This voice is horrifying. You couldn’t get an actress who speaks French and narrates. Kristin Scott Thomas? It will take weeks to get through this.

LAAWD

this was long. It's a great story. Carlin had a lot of years and info to wade through and she threaded it together neatly. Although, it could have used a pdf - I relied on the google to help understand how pieces and people fit together. The narrator was almost the reason I quit listening, and it was quite a workout to finish it.