“No Regrets: The Life of Édith Piaf” by Carolyn Burke

For years, the most famous (and notorious) biography of Piaf was sensationalistic, warts-and-all account by her self-proclaimed half -sister Simone Bertaut, known as Mômone, who sadly was just one the many parasites who surrounded legendary French singer during her lifetime and continued to live off her posthumously. Piaf own fanciful memoirs published a year after her death, were apparently romantic re-imagination of what she wanted public to know about her, which along the tons of books written in subsequent decades about her helped to create the perpetual myth that sometimes tend to eclipse facts. 

Carolyn Burke approaches Piaf’s life story with a zest of true detective, going trough documents, archives and newspaper clips with passion of archaeologist who finds truth under layers and layers of accumulated gossips, rumours and stories wrongly remembered. She is not exactly Kitty Kelley, as her admiration for subject is palatable and perhaps occasionally hindrance, when she demurely closes her eyes faced with undisputed unsavoury facts. Initially, the book is a delight as it deals with those romantic early years when Piaf clawed her way from the streets into the nightclubs and Burke shows great understanding of social and political atmosphere of France, explaining how this street singer fitted into music scene of the time. Piaf was often compared with Judy Garland, but where Garland had Hollywood machinery behind her, French singer spiritually perhaps had more in common with 1920s blues singer Bessie Smith who was similarly embraced by blasé white audiences that visited New York’s Harlem in search for something authentic - as Burke points, before she became national treasure, Piaf was presented and marketed as singer from the slums and gutters, something refreshingly contrasting with current glamorous stars. That she later managed to educate herself and even inspire celebrated artists is a tribute to her genius and appeal. 

Inevitably book slowly turns into long, show-biz list of concerts, tours and airports although Burke heroically tries to keep it interesting with her explanations of singers motivations and inner life. Personally, I couldn’t care less who were her lovers - imagined or real (apparently lots of men looking for her favours were not exactly interested in ladies) - what fascinated me much more were stories explaining background of some classic songs from her repertoire and in all honesty, music is what she is remembered for. When dust settles on all those scandals, sordid stories and melodrama that filled magazines, it is her music that still lives on and touches our hearts - at this point Piaf has been 

away from this world longer than she had been in it (some half of century, to be precise) but her appeal is universal and timeless.