Every detail of the life and work of Coco

Chanel has been scrutinized, it seems, in books,

interviews, articles, and films - everything, that is, except

the details of her private self: the importance she

attached to symbolism, esotericism, and poetry; the men

she loved; her family; and above all the nephew whom

she raised as her own son, André Palasse. Now André's

daughter Gabrielle Labrunie, Chanel's sole direct

descendant and her close confidant for over forty

years, has agreed for friendship's sake to open

her archives to the author and share her memories

of her great-aunt, whom she fondly called "Auntie Coco".

In five chronological sections - Darkness, Invisible

Realities, Poetic States, "Correspondences," and

Resonances - this book reveals the private world of

Coco Chanel, penetrating to the heart of the Chanel

mystique. The personal possessions and documents

shown in these pages - many of them never before

seen and reproduced here for the first time - are all

fragments of this intimate world, including precious gifts

from her great love, Boy Capel, and from the Duke of

Westminster; cherished books and furniture; favorite

accessories and jewelry; her personal wardrobe; and

the interiors of her private apartment on rue Cambon.