Overview

From the fascist Franco regime to Hollywood's glamour — an epic historical novel based on the meteoric rise of one of the world's most celebrated restaurateurs. Stars in His Eyes is the inspirational real-life story of a passionate young immigrant named Jean Leon who flees his native country, tired of suffering under the Franco dictatorship in 1950s Spain, in search of a new life in America, only to succeed beyond his wildest dreams. From his arrival, after having secretly stowed away on a transatlantic steamer, to his continued flight across the country to Hollywood, Leon's life entwines with larger than life historical figures like Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, and Marilyn Monroe. Leon himself emerges as one of the first celebrity restauranteurs, opening the storied Beverly Hills restaurant La Scala and creating the template for the kind of glamorous 'in' restaurant at which everyone wants to see and be seen. His biggest dream comes true the year he finally buys a vineyard in his birth country, Spain, and begins planting the Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay grapes for the wine he has long wished to make, to serve with pride in his own restaurant. There are trials and tribulations — arson, gambling debts, and family strife — along the way, but eventually Jean Leon fulfills his dream of making a world-class wine of his own.

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9781542040631

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Martí Gironell i Gamero is a journalist and writer born in Besalú in 1971. His debut work, The Bridge of the Jews, is the bestselling historical novel ever written by a Catalan author and has sold over one hundred thousand copies. He’s written several novels set in different periods of Catalan history. He currently works at Catalan national television TV3 and writes for the newspaper El Punt Avui. He is considered a master of the popular historical novel, and his novels have brought renewed interest and fame to forgotten yet fascinating figures of Southern Europe’s history.

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