{"product_id":"the-baroness-the-search-for-nica-the-rebellious-rothschild","title":"The Baroness: The Search for Nica  the Rebellious Rothschild","description":"\u003cp\u003eBeautiful  romantic and spirited  Pannonica  known as Nica  named after her fathers favorite moth  was born in 1913 to extraordinary  eccentric privilege and a storied history. The Rothschild family had  in only five generations  risen from the ghetto in Frankfurt to stately homes in England. As a child  Nica took her daily walks  dressed in white  with her two sisters and governess around the parkland of the vast house at Tring  Hertfordshire  among kangaroos  giant tortoises  emus and zebras  all part of the exotic menagerie collected by her uncle Walter. As a debutante  she was taught to fly by a saxophonist and introduced to jazz by her brother Victor; she married Baron Jules de Koenigswarter  settled in a chteau in France and had five children. When World War II broke out  Nica and her five children narrowly escaped back to England  but soon after  she set out to find her husband who was fighting with the Free French Army in Africa  where she helped the war effort by being a decoder  a driver and organizing supplies and equipment.  In the early 1950s Nica heard Round Midnight by the jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk and  as if under a powerful spell  abandoned her marriage and moved to New York to find him. She devoted herself to helping Monk and other musicians: she bailed them out of jail  paid their bills  took them to the hospital  even drove them to their gigs  and her convertible Bentley could always be seen parked outside downtown clubs or up in Harlem. Charlie Parker would notoriously die in her apartment in the Stanhope Hotel. But it was Monk who was the love of her life and whom she cared for until his death in 1982.  Hannah Rothschild has drawn on archival material and her own interviews in this quest to find out who her great-aunt really was and how she fit into a family that  although passionate about music and entomology  was reactionary in always favoring men over women. Part musical odyssey  part love story  The Baroness is a fascinating portrait of a modern figure ahead of her time who dared to live as she wanted  finally  at the very center of New Yorks jazz scene.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44983644913717,"sku":"ByrdShop_0307961982","price":27.66,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780307961983.jpg?v=1770804673","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-baroness-the-search-for-nica-the-rebellious-rothschild","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}