A BROTHEL AS HISTORY

Press, 4 March 1978, Page 17

A BROTHEL AS HISTORY

Palace of Sweet Sin, By Fabienne Jamet. Translated by Derek Coltman. W. H. Aleln and Co. 221 pp. $12.05. (Reviewed by A. J. Petre) Behind the lurid title lies the rather less lurid history of one of Paris’s most famous brothels: Number 122, rue de Provence, better known to habitues as “The One.” The famous from within and outside France flocked to “The One,” and between 1930 and 1946, when it was closed by a change in French law, it was host to churchmen, staesmen, gunmen, and even royalty. Mme. Jamet was the wife of the owner, Marcel Jamet, and the overseer and Madame of the establishment — in which she had originally been one of the carefully-selected girls. If anything summed up “The One,” she says, it was class. The decor throughout was lavish, the attached restaurant, which clients often brought their wives or mistresses, was noted for its food, and the standard of the champagne never slipped. One suite was decorated to represent the interior of a sailing-ship cabin, another a luxury liner's suite, another an African bungalow, another a country farmhouse, another a Royal chamber. Photographs of several are included in the book.

The Jamets had their problems with the Germans during the occupation, not least because Marcel was aiding the Resistance. But they found them better-mannered than their liberators and their fellow countrymen in the early days of liberation. Soon after that, the new Government had an attack of morality — led, if Mme Jamet is to be believed, by a woman politican whose earlier career had been singularly lacking in any such thing — and legislated to close all the brothels. The poor customers, says Mme

Jamet, were “caught with their trousers up.” She is in no doubt of the danger to health and morals presented by the closure of the houses. The book is a fascinating glimpse of a facet of French history and politics that some may feel best left unseen. Mme Jamet is rarely more than faintly salacious. The awkward style and uneven pace are worth the effort, although purchasers may feel that the poor quality of the paper is out of line with the price-tag.