Book Blurb:
Releasing January 14, 2025
In the heart of tumultuous times, amidst the grandeur of Victorian opulence, there existed an American socialite whose influence altered the course of the Anglo-Irish treaty:
Lady Hazel Lavery
Boston-born Hazel ascended from her Irish roots to become the quintessential Society Queen of Chicago, and later London, where she lived a delicate dance between two worlds: one with her esteemed husband, Sir John Lavery, a portrait artist to royalty, and the other with Michael Collins, the daring Irish rebel whose fiery spirit ignited her heart. Together, they formed a love triangle that echoed through the corridors of power at 10 Downing Street, London.
Hazel's wit and charm touched on the lives of the who's-who of England including Winston Churchill, George Bernard Shaw and Evelyn Waugh. The image of her memorable face graced the Irish note for close to half-a-century.
Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/zPj7
Author Bio:
Lois Cahall’s is a #1 best-selling novelist of PLAN C: JUST IN CASE (Bloomsbury), COURT OF THE MYRTLES (Bloomsbury), and THE MANY LIVES & LOVES OF HAZEL LAVERY, January 2025.
Lois is the Founder of both the Cape Cod Book Festival and the Palm Beach Book Festival bringing in New York Times best selling and celebrity authors. Previously she was the Creative Director for James Patterson Entertainment (JPE).
Editorial Review:
In the painting of Lady Hazel Lavery by her husband Sir John Lavery [now in the National Gallery of Ireland] the image of the beautiful and dazzling Boston born socialite, the toast of society, gazes out at the observer. This image was adapted to grace the Irish Banknote and used until as recently as 1977. It is a truly arresting portrait, more of a mural in appearance than her husband's usual work. The sitter is portrayed as the legendary Irish figure of Kathleen Ni Houlihan. She gazes out somewhat mournfully from a backdrop of muted Irish green, left hand resting upon a harp in a contemplative and wistful gaze. Her startling beauty is striking and very evident. Contemplating this image is an excellent point at which to embark upon this powerful and moving account of the life of the remarkable Lady Hazel Lavery [1880-1936] As Sir Shane Leslie, commenting on the portrait, later noted: ''Had it not been for Hazel's portrait as the colleen of Irish banknotes, her sentences and even her name would now be forgotten in a land which has never accounted gratitude amongst its theological virtues.''
Here, he refers to the remarkable poise and biting wit of this extraordinary woman. This becomes very evident as the author, Lois Cahall, takes the reader, increasingly enthralled, through 'The Many Lives & Loves of Hazel Lavery'. Her Irish born father, who she worshipped and idolised [to the extent that he remained to her the personification of the perfect man] tells her at a very young age ''do not try to make it a good day, Hazel, make it a splendid day'', advice she sought to follow all of her life, beset as it was with personal tragedy and heartache, bringing her warmth and spirit to all who fell within her magnetic orbit.
The little girl Hazel, is showered with love and affection and displays a love of art and an ability at a very early age [she would subsequently give Winston Churchill his first lessons in painting]. Already, she is an accomplished flirt. She attends prestigious [and, we have no doubt, very costly!] schools where she earns the title of 'The Most Beautiful Girl in the MidWest' and earns a reputation as being the very personification of good taste, manners and deportment. She feels both jealousy and a slight tinge of resentment, therefore, when her younger sister Dorothy is born. Along with her mother, Dorothy will prove to have a sobering influence and a cause of regret and sorrow to Hazel for many years to come. She is shattered, heart broken, when tragedy and loss strikes. The effects of grief are profound and will remain with her forever, pushing her ''further into fantasy, though I understood that royalty couldn't be obtained that easily....so I chiseled the idea of a place where women ruled.''
Hazel is desperate to escape her mother's increasingly domineering and imperious control, to travel and to acquire and exert influence. Hazel writes of her mother at this time that she ''hated every fiber of this wicked widowed woman'' and her constant quest to find her daughter a suitable and socially acceptable husband. These three seemingly diverse emotions will shape her actions for the rest of her life, particularly the latter two; for Hazel proves to be an intrepid and inveterate traveller and and the sheer force of her personality will make her a much praised, courted, formidable and influential presence in the salons and drawing rooms of the great and the prestigious. Almost casually and seemingly without name dropping or bragging, these personalities richly populate the entire book – a veritable 'who's who' of the society of the time. As a muse and a welcomed presence, she proves invaluable to the painting career and status of her future husband, Sir John Lavery, and she is to play a significant role in the very shaping of some of the most significant developments and decisions of early twentieth century British and Irish political history.
In the course of a 'painting trip' to Brittany, Hazel for the first time meets John Lavery, then an assistant to an eminent painter. She forms an attachment to the Belfast Catholic, her senior by twenty five years, with a previous marriage and a daughter. This attachment, which her mother makes every effort to break, will last for the rest of her life. Fearing the worst, her mother cables the man she has chosen as a suitable groom for her daughter, to travel to them in Paris, where they currently are. Hazel's reaction is similar, she tells us, to her favourite Jane Austen heroines. She takes to her room, refuses to see anyone and refuses to eat. Her behaviour has all the hallmarks, it seems, of a classic hissy fit on the part of an overly spoiled young girl. ''Only when they coaxed me out with Lobster Thermidor carefully packaged up from Chez Marie's'' she confides without any apparent sense of self parody, ''did I finally emerge, ravished and wilted.'' Hazel acquiesces, capitulates, and on December 28th 1903 and in a lavish society wedding that attracts the envious praise of 'The Chicago Tribune', Hazel marries. On that very day she writes again to John: ''I am yours, the soul and the breath and the brain and bleeding heart of me. I am yours - and my life will be lived for you whether you will or not - and you shall think and long despair without me - always - always - always.'' This, the reader will immediately agree, is not the best of starts for a happy and prosperous marriage.
What follows can be dealt with swiftly. Her young husband, a dedicated and hard working surgeon, succumbs to a virulent outbreak of pneumonia in Manhattan. At a very young age Hazel is now a widow - and pregnant. She is consumed with guilt, especially as her sister accuses her of having achieved what she really wanted. She returns to her family in Chicago, having attended her husband's funeral in New York. At the funeral she does not tell his stricken mother that she is pregnant. She has, as she confides to us, ''a lot to learn about empathy and compassion.'' Hazel's daughter, Alice, is born the following October. It is a protracted, difficult and painful birth and Hazel is plunged into a deep post-natal depression. In her concern for her daughter and beloved grand daughter, Hazel's mother takes her on a convalescent trip to a recuperative health spa in the English Malvern Hills. She even agrees to write to John to inform him and it is this, of course, that reunites Hazel and John. A splendid period in the full, warm zenith of the Edwardian Golden Age before the war that would change everything forever. In a true Freudian slip, Hazel refers to John as her 'father'. She and her mother move to Paris whilst John moves to Italy to seek inspiration and paint. Her relationship to her mother is complicated and strained. She and her mother travel to Rome. She has become very ill with nephritis; in fact, Hazel will be dogged by illness for the rest of her life. On July 22nd 1909, Hazel and John are joined together at the Brompton Oratory in London, the scene of many a subsequent romantic encounter in Hazel's busy and very crowded life.
It is at this point in the narrative that the reader arrive at a pivotal point in the remarkable story of ''The Many Lives & Loves of Hazel Lavery''; the first arrival in the book of the remarkable young Irishman Michael Collins and the true awakening of Hazel's own nascent Irish spirit, which will then shape all that is to come. Hazel's new home is in Cromwell Place, South Kensington. It is soon transformed into a society watering hole, a magnet attracting the most fashionable and distinctive and distinguished people in society, and with a glittering Hazel at its central point. John, meanwhile, continues to make excellent progress with his own career. The family move to John's home in Tangier, where Hazel finds happiness in the country of Morocco and in her family. Alice is now eight and John's daughter Eileen has bloomed into a beautiful young woman. Hazel resumes her painting. They return, after this idyll, to London.
Hazel's first encounter with the legendary figure of Michael Collins [1890-1922] is a brief encounter at her local London Post Office where she buys stamps across the counter from a strikingly handsome and charming young Irish assistant. In later years, Collins has no memory of this encounter. Cahall sets some time aside from her account of the life of Hazel Lavery to outline some of the key events in the short and violent life of Michael Collins and in the period before he embarks upon a truly serious relationship with the bewitchingly beautiful wife of society painter, John Lavery. Born in County Cork, Michael 'the Big Feller' Collins is a natural born leader, handsome, charming and popular. He become politically aware, and active, at a very early age and rises in the ranks of the 'IRB' [Independent Irish Brotherhood] and is a fervid supporter of 'Sinn Fein' [Irish Gaelic for 'Ourselves Alone']. He takes a prominent role in the ill fated and abortive 'Easter Rising' of 1916, for which he is subsequently imprisoned [he was lucky not to have been shot!] for his pains. He then becomes a strident and highly vocal voice in the fight for Irish self-determination. Hazel, meanwhile, has been busily exploring her own Irish roots, encouraged, perhaps, by her friendship with the Irish literary figures of George Bernard Shaw and the poet W.B. Yeats. She is keen to delve yet further and is especially attracted by the figure of celebrity fugitive Collins. In the words of her own daughter, she is 'smitten' by him and adopts, again in her own words, as a 'sort of ongoing mantra' that she is ''just a simple Irish girl at heart''. This, as a critic might point out, is just foolish whimsy on her part because, of course, she is demonstrably nothing of the sort.
The writer then takes the reader through a very neatly phrased summary of the flourishing political career of Michael Collins. Readers are strongly urged to read further for a clearer understanding of this extraordinary man and the extraordinary and violent times in which he lived. Hazel, through the simple exercise of her formidable charm bearing down on an initially reluctant and very important and well connected individual to commission an art work then capitalises upon her victory by persuading her husband to paint the Irish leaders and, of course, Michael Collins himself. Hazel is taking lessons in preparation to converting to the Catholic faith, such is her zeal. John takes this with his customary and accommodating good humour. He even writes to their mutual friend, Winston Churchill, now Minister for War, urging upon him the need for peace and reconciliation. He writes: ''In the words of my beloved wife, Hazel, 'Love is stronger than hate'.''
Such understanding and generosity of spirit is typical of the man, Sir John Lavery. Almost imperceptibly, John has begun to drift into an eminent and respectable old age. Throughout the entire book he has been [and will continue to be] a constant, a secure rock and loving source of strength and stability and unwavering support in an uncertain world. He is always there for Hazel, utterly loving and dependable. The reader should not lose sight of the fact that he is older than his feisty wife by a quarter of a century. Startlingly, he is referred to at one point by Hazel [though with the greatest affection and fondness] as ''an old curmudgeon''. Later still comes the admission from Hazel that they no longer share the same bedroom. Wholly admirable in every respect as he is, Sir John Lavery will not be able to hold a candle when set against the bright glow emanating from the vibrant young Michael Collins. Together they await the arrival of the man himself for his first sitting and their first meeting. Hazel, with a mounting excitement and anticipation, waxes lyrical:
''My head went to Ireland. To Michael. Shamrock green, Kelly green, moss green. Michael will adore it when I wear my Gloucester sage cloak, which is to say more of a gray, like a thicket, covered in the sweet spring of April showers which are never-ending in my beloved Emerald Isle.'' Collins is all that Hazel had hoped for, and more besides. ''And so, John began - plunging into the portrait. My eyes darted between them - my husband and Michael - the artist and the subject open to the artist's interpretation. Of course, no painter could say more with fewer brush strokes than John Lavery and no set of eyes could convey more affection than mine for Michael Collins.'' It is at this point that Hazel, and clearly much thought had been devoted to this, announces that all of the representatives due to attend the forthcoming peace talks to be held in London should convene at their home for a proper Reception. ''Michael stared at me in a prolonged and intense consultation. Something was happening in the room. My temples throbbed blood. The unspoken is that I'd already fantasized about him...longed for his danger, his responsibilities, to be part of his passion for his country. Our country. Ireland.'' The enchantment of Lady Hazel Lavery is complete!
Hazel and Collins agree to attend Mass at the Brompton Oratory, the very location of Hazel's marriage. Together in the Church for the Mass, Hazel feels overcome with excitement, the thought of being alone with this extraordinary and striking man. Despite the obvious possible minefield of a first encounter of the English and the Irish delegates prior to the convening of the talks, Lady Hazel Lavery's grand reception is a glittering success. Admittedly, the volatile Lloyd George is characteristically difficult and belligerent, but the wide variety of the guests, the Churchills, the strong Unionist, Lord Birkenhead, such people as George Bernard Shaw and the writer J.M. Barrie [the creator of 'Peter Pan'] and others mingle happily and enjoy themselves under the expert guiding hand and surveillance of the ever adept Lady Lavery. Unexpectedly, Winston Churchill and Collins find common ground of a sort and a camaraderie over shared stories of living as a fugitive on the run. Hazel's especial friend, Clementine Churchill, a vivacious woman more than capable of matching Hazel in sheer mischief, notes her friend's fascination with the Irishman. ''Nothing is more lovely,'' she observes archly, ''than knowing an old married woman'' (Hazel is now forty one) ''is still desirable.'' Hazel, for her part, and following the experience of a secret, stolen kiss in a private garden, offers Collins a further drink, ''leaning in with a little more bosom and bare shoulder than all of England was used to witnessing.''
After the event, John and Hazel discuss the grand reception. Both agree that it had been a resounding success. John observes with great prescience ''had it not been for you, Hazel, there couldn't be a Treaty negotiation.'' The reader should pause a moment to consider the remark, and Hazel's unique contribution to this process, bearing as it does the seeds that will result in the ultimate fate that will befall Collins. John Also gives voice to his own doubts that have arisen as he prepares to make his way to his own separate bedroom. ''He has a thing for you, he does, Hazel. I can see it in his eyes. Must be your new look, the red-purple toned hair and the ruby lipstick. Must see you as someone his own age.'' He notes that ''you've seem to embrace the Church like never before, my dear Hazel.'' Perhaps defensively, guiltily, Hazel replies that she is a devout Catholic now. She listens as his footsteps recede down the hallway, ''then a silence lingered, until the long night turned into a gentle and anxious dawn.''
It is not at all the purpose of this review to delve too deeply into the details and circumstances behind the negotiations leading to the signing of the Treaty in the middle of the night and in the small hours of December 1921 nor, indeed, of the ramifications and consequences that followed. Suffice it to say that the Treaty is signed and Michael Collins returns to Dublin. The readers owe it to themselves to explore this thorny issue for themselves; there are plenty of sources out there. Hazel, for her part, is hopelessly, dangerously in love with Michael Collins. Winston Churchill remarks that he wonders what further benefits Hazel could possibly gain for her constant and indefatigable work and efforts in the search for peace. She is after all, he points out, already a Lady. Clementine Churchill, for her part, knows the truth of it all, and keeps silent. Hazel confides to us: ''Love, I thought. It's as mysterious as the lover. Unless you walk on a path of the discovery of love you get a feeling that will transport you in a way that is not rational. So what do you do? You stay on the path. And you run as wild as your feet will take you to the very end.''
Hazel has adopted a new mantra: ''Each time you happen to me all over again.'' This over-riding emotion asserts itself over all of Hazel's thoughts and actions and influences her efforts and her huge and largely unrecognised involvement in the whole issue of the signing of the Anglo-Irish peace agreement. Collins himself is under severe pressure from politicians at home and an increasingly bellicose Lloyd George to sign. Indeed, Lloyd George threatens an immediate declaration of war if he does not sign. Hazel and John are horrified and, once more, Hazel intervenes, arranging for her faithful and doubtless long suffering Chauffeur to drive him to Downing Street to sign the Treaty in the pious [and totally false] hope that this will avoid further bloodshed. This document will confer upon Ireland the status of a ''Commonwealth Dominion'' and not the free standing country independent of the British Crown that the Irish had wished for. It is, in other words, a compromise and Michael Collins himself bitterly acknowledges the fact. Michael Collins has become a villain and a traitor in the eyes of many of his countrymen as he struggles to maintain control over the party of which he is now Chairman. De Valera, a prominent Irish politician, resigns in protest over the terms of agreement and Collins is more isolated than ever. He is in actual danger of his life, the subject of several assassination attempts. Ireland is in a state of actual civil war and one night Hazel is awoken, screaming, from a terrible and vivid nightmare of witnessing Collins' bloody corpse.
The greatest tragedy of all in the complicated and entangled life of Hazel Lavery, is the terrible sequence of events that overtakes her immediately after her vivid nightmare.; the remainder of her life will never be the same again. She notes in her journal: ''Grief all around. Grief is the price we pay for love.'' In a book that is simply packed from start to finish with truly moving and revealing passages, this is, perhaps, one of the finest.
To the very end of her life, beating off amorous suitors all the while, Hazel is consumed by these two consuming passions; guilt and regret. Slowly, the various illnesses that had always plagued her begin to accumulate and take hold. Towards the end she is an invalid, though outwardly continuing to sparkle with her characteristic effervescent wit and charm. She becomes a doting grandmother, first to Eileen, John's daughter, and then of the two children of her daughter Alice. She continues to be feted and celebrated, attracting a new coterie of admirers like moths to the light; people such as Cecil Beaton, Noel Coward and the writer Evelyn Waugh, who dedicates a book to her in 1946. But the woman who had experienced and suffered so much feels largely like a spent and reflective force in the later chapters of the book. After the departure of Michael Collins, the book takes on the nature of a wistful summary.
Lois Cahall presents us with a wonderful and warming account of a life truly lived to the full. The story is packed with incidents and memorable occurrences in which famous and notable figures of the time make their various entrances and exits. Hazel lived a busy life, one very well lived, so when the readers arrive, with regret, at the final page, they will realise and understand that hers is a life with more than its fair share of unbearable tragedies, each of which are treated with humanity and compassion. The Many Lives & Loves of Hazel Lavery by Lois Cahall is a powerful and at all times eminently readable book, a fine work which will undoubtedly win the praise and plaudits it so richly deserves.
*****
“The Many Lives & Loves of Hazel Lavery” by Lois Cahall receives five stars and the “Highly Recommended” award of excellence from The Historical Fiction Company / and the SILVER MEDAL recipient for the BRONTE UK category in the 2024 HFC Book of the Year contest
Awards:
The 2025 HFC Book of the Year contest is now open and you may request an editorial review at this link: www.thehistoricalfictioncompany.com/book-awards/award-submission
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