Anio Szado (44 page)

Bernard handed me a letter that Antoine wrote on the day he left.

In a corner of the onionskin page was an ink sketch of the Little Prince’s tiny planet, its knee-high volcano smudged by rainfall. I said, “If I hadn’t gone to Montreal, he might be here celebrating with us today.”

“I don’t think so, my dear.”

“At least he might not have asked Consuelo to come to New York.”

“He didn’t ask her. She told him she was sailing to visit her family in El Salvador. She said New York was just a few days’ stopover—and then she stayed.”

My lips parted in astonishment.

Bernard kissed me.

The rain picked up. It soaked our shoulders and our shoes. As we rose to go indoors, we pushed it from our eyes. I paused on the threshold. The wind chime on the open door was ringing in the rain.

The Little Prince
was published in New York in 1943 and in France in 1945. It became one of the best-selling novels of all time.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s whereabouts remained a mystery until 1998, when his engraved identity bracelet was snagged by a fisherman’s net and pulled from the Mediterranean Sea. Two years later, his airplane was found in pieces, strewn across the seabed. His body has never been recovered.

Consuelo remained true to form until her death in 1979. It has been said that she moved in with another writer in New York upon Antoine’s departure in 1943; that she allegedly forged a section of her husband’s will to expand her entitlement to royalties; and that she banked heavily on her connection to
The Little Prince
, including opening a restaurant called
Le Petit Prince
where she wore a sailor’s hat embellished with the same. Her memoir of unorthodox love was published posthumously as
The Tale of the Rose
.

Bernard Lamotte died in New York at the age of eighty. His life’s work includes murals commissioned by John F. Kennedy for the White House pool. His artwork is still displayed at his beautiful old studio, which has been home to the
haute cuisine
restaurant Le Grenouille for the past half century. A plaque on the building’s facade commemorates the creation of
The Little Prince
—directly across the street from the side entrance of the Fifth Avenue Cartier store, which locale for a short time did indeed host the Alliance Française, though not in the configuration described within these pages.

The very real (and self-invented) designer Valentina Schlee was largely forgotten until the 2009 publication of Kohle Yohannan’s fascinating
Valentina: American Couture and the Cult of Celebrity
and the accompanying show at the Museum of the City of New York. Mignonne’s white silk chiffon dress was inspired by the Valentina creation that graces the book’s back cover. Mig’s bold modeling of the butterfly ensemble draws on the words and actions of the inimitable Valentina herself, down to the corselet.

While the record shows that both Saint-Exupérys had close or intimate relationships outside of marriage, it should be noted that all aspects of the relationships within this book are fictional. The specific nature of Antoine’s extramarital relations remains a matter of speculation, with some sources suggesting that his were exclusively platonic affairs. If so, his abstinence may not have been a matter of impotence but of a sense of responsibility: Saint-Exupéry biographer Stacy Schiff notes that her subject believed erroneously that he may have inherited syphilis, and worried (despite repeated test results to the contrary) that he was at risk of spreading the disease.

Whenever possible within the demands of this story, I have situated the Saint-Exupérys and their compatriots in historically documented places and situations at the historically correct times. I have attempted to give context to the better known of Antoine’s written and quoted words, and have called upon my version of Consuelo to recast her documented tales and claims. Nevertheless, all elements of this novel—whether inspired by, based on, reflecting, or distorting the known facts—should be construed as fiction. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s many biographers differ significantly in their interpretation of this complicated and contradictory man and his tempestuous wife.

Three remarkable women guided me through this story’s final transformations and brought it to an international readership: I’m indebted to my editors Victoria Wilson and Adrienne Kerr, and to my agent Melanie Jackson, for their wisdom, enthusiasm, and grace. Thank you also to my publishers, my publicists Kathryn Zuckerman and Barbara Bower, and all who have worked so diligently in support of this book.

The manuscript benefitted greatly from perceptive readings by Barbara Berson, Cathy Marie Buchanan, Michael Schellenberg, Dianne Scott, and Roz Spafford. Sincere gratitude to them, and to University of British Columbia’s MFA in Creative Writing program, where early drafts took shape.

Howard Scherry was generous in sharing resources and his vast knowledge of Saint-Exupéry’s New York years. Stacy Schiff provided corroboration at a critical juncture. The Museum of the City of New York enthralled me with exhibitions on Valentina and on Paris and New York’s design and fashion cultures; Jacqueline Chambord delved into the history of New York City’s French Institute Alliance Française; the Color Institute unearthed 1940s fabrics and attitudes. Patricia Stewart and David Page provided Expo 67 materials and cast a careful eye over my French.

Among print sources, I am most grateful for
Saint-Exupéry: A Biography
by Stacy Schiff, as well as biographies by Curtis Cate, Marcel Migeo, and Joy D. Marie Robinson;
Saint Exupéry: Art, Writings and Musings
by Nathalie des Vallières;
Saint-Exupéry
in America, 1942–1943: A Memoir
by Adele Breaux;
Valentina: American Couture and the Cult of Celebrity
by Kohle Yohannan;
The Tale of the Rose: The Passion That Inspired “The Little Prince”
and
Kingdom of the Rocks: Memories of Oppède
by Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry;
Émigré New York: French Intellectuals in Wartime Manhattan, 1940–1944
by Jeffrey Mehlman;
Don’t You Know There’s a War On?: The American Home Front, 1941–1945
by Richard Lingeman;
Forties Fashion: From Siren Suits to the New Look
by Jonathan Walford;
A Stitch in Time: A History of New York’s Fashion District
by Gabriel Montero;
Over Here!: New York City During World War II
by Lorraine B. Diehl; and, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry,
The Little Prince
and other works, particularly
Wartime Writings 1939–1944
.

Heartfelt gratitude to those who hosted me as I worked in Toronto, New York City, Massachusetts, Florida, Hamilton, Quebec, on the shores of Lake Erie and Lake Mississagua, in a wintery Killarney Park yurt, at Robert Wyatt’s magical Woodstock home, and at Toronto Writers’ Centre—my thanks to its members and its founder, Mitch Kowalski.

While writing this book, I was buoyed by the faith and creativity of Bruce Hefler, Ela Hefler, Luke Hefler, Daniela Draves, Celina Szado, Edward Szado, Cathy Buchanan, Miranda Hill, Ellen Irving, Eduarda Sousa, and Angela Thomas.

I thank the Ontario Arts Council for financial assistance during the tenure of this project.

To conclude where
Studio Saint-Ex
began: When I was eleven, I was given a copy of
The Little Prince
. I will forever be aware—and grateful—that the gift of a book can change the course of a child’s life.

Ania Szado graduated from the Ontario College of Art and the University of British Columbia. Her first novel,
Beginning of Was
, was short-listed for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. Her writing has appeared in numerous periodicals, including
The Globe and Mail
,
Flare
, and
This Magazine
. She lives in Toronto.

For more information, please visit
www.aaknopf.com

by Ania Szado

The introduction, discussion questions, and suggested further reading that follow are designed to enhance your group’s discussion of Ania Szado’s
Studio Saint-Ex
, a brilliant work of historical fiction based on the life of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the celebrated French author best known for the whimsical tale
The Little Prince
.

Set in World War II-era New York City and Montreal,
Studio Saint-Ex
is a sumptuous novel that explores the heights and depths of romantic love, artistic ambition, and sacrifice for one’s ideals. Ania Szado gives readers a brilliantly imagined account of two very different women and their love for one of the greatest literary icons of modern France.

The novel is primarily narrated by Mignonne Lachapelle, a young designer fresh out of New York Fashion School. Although her family pedigree allows her access to all the glamour and glitz of the French expatriate society, she is determined to make her name in the emerging fashion scene of the early 1940s. Living with her alcoholic brother and employed under the not-so-nurturing wing of a former professor, Mignonne struggles to find her identity as an American designer in a country changed by impending war.

Mignonne’s creative life is both complicated and inspired by her relationship with Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, a charismatic Frenchman twenty years her senior. Initially introduced to Antoine as his English tutor, she is quickly seduced by Antoine’s exotic past and unique genius. “Saint-Ex” is an irresistible force of intellect and heroic passion, a man already famous for his daring missions as an airmail carrier through North Africa, and for several acclaimed works detailing his adventures as a pilot. The two begin a tumultuous yet unconsummated love affair beset by obstacles, not the least of which is Antoine’s obsession to liberate his beloved France from Hitler’s regime. Temporarily exiled in the States, Saint-Ex lives for the day he is allowed to again take to the skies.

Also hindering their romance is Antoine’s beautiful and conniving wife, Consuelo. Fixated on winning Antoine’s exclusive affections despite a history of infidelity on both sides, Consuelo
uses Mignonne as a pawn in her schemes. Her ultimate opportunity arrives when she discovers Mignonne’s wish to render Antoine’s most recent literary work into a theatrical,
haute couture
production. Antoine has just completed the manuscript for
The Little Prince
, a tale of a plane-wrecked pilot who encounters a young Prince fallen to Earth from another planet. In collaboration with Mignonne, Consuelo drives the project forward and insists on being the star of the show, despite Antoine’s abhorrence of the idea.

The production is a rousing success, and sparks the beginning of a legendary career for Mignonne, at the same time giving Consuelo the accolades she craves. However, both women ultimately fail in their true objective: to keep Antoine on terra firma.

Studio Saint-Ex
is a lusciously written account of a man mired in the contradictions of his own nature, and the women who would go to almost any lengths to possess him. Above all, Ania Szado sheds a sensuous light on the fundamental longing of the human heart to transcend the realities of an imperfect world.