Coco and Igor is a 2002 novel byChris Greenhalgh. Set mainly in Paris in 1920, it is based on a possible real-life affair betweenCoco Chanel andIgor Stravinsky.

Coco and Igor

First edition
Author	Chris Greenhalgh
Language	English
Genre	Historical fiction
Publisher	Headline Review
Publication date	1 July 2002
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print (hardcover)
Pages	311pp (first edition, HB)
ISBN	0-7553-0086-6 (first edition, HB)
OCLC	49394049

Stravinsky'sThe Rite of Spring has its Paris premiere on 29 May 1913. Coco is mesmerised by the power of Igor's composition, but the audience is scandalised by its discordant, rhythmic music andNijinsky's primitive choreography.

Coco finally meets Igor seven years later, at a dinner hosted bySergei Diaghilev, impresario of theBallets Russes. Igor has been forced to flee Russia – with his wife and four children – following theRussian Revolution. Coco invites him to bring his family to stay with her at her villa inGarches – 'Bel Respiro'.

Couturière and composer soon begin an affair. Both experience a surge of creativity; while Coco createsChanel No. 5 (with perfumerErnest Beaux), Igor's compositions display a new, liberated style. But Igor's wife, Katerina, becomes ill withconsumption and an unbearable tension takes hold of 'Bel Respiro' and its occupants.

Thepiano keyboard operates as a framework for the novel. There are eighty-eight chapters, corresponding to the number of keys on a piano.

• Coco and Igor, Review atVogue (11 June 2002)
• "Eau de rancour" byPeter Conrad,The Observer (30 June 2002)
• "Books:Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky" by Stephanie Green,The Washington Post (6 December 2009)

Greenhalgh adapted his novel for the 2009 filmCoco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, directed byJan Kounen and starringAnna Mouglalis andMads Mikkelsen.^[1] The film was selected to occupy the prestigious closing slot at the2009 Cannes Film Festival on 24 May 2009.^[2]Theriotous premiere ofThe Rite of Spring at theThéâtre des Champs-Élysées on 29 May 1913 is legendary (see:The Rite of Spring#Premiere).

In the spring of 1920, Chanel was introduced to Stravinsky by Sergei Diaghilev, impresario of theBallets Russes. During the summer, Chanel discovered that the Stravinsky family was seeking a place to live. She invited them to "Bel Respiro" until they could find a more suitable residence (they arrived in the second week of September and stayed until May 1921). Chanel also guaranteed the 1920 Ballets Russes production ofThe Rite of Spring against financial loss with an anonymous gift to Diaghilev, said to be 300,000 francs.^[3]

The personal relationships depicted in the novel are largely fictionalised. Stravinsky was reputed to have been a philanderer who had several affairs, including one with Chanel. Whereas Stravinsky never publicly referred to this alleged affair, Chanel spoke about it at length to her biographerPaul Morand in 1946 (the conversation was published thirty years later asl'Allure de Chanel).^[4] The accuracy of Chanel's claims has been disputed both by Stravinsky's second wife,Vera, and by his close musical collaborator,Robert Craft.^[5] TheChanel fashion house avers there is no evidence that any affair between Chanel and Stravinsky ever occurred.^[6]

• UK hardback: Headline Review, 1 July 2002 (ISBN 0-7553-0086-6)
• UK paperback: Headline Review, 7 July 2003 (ISBN 978-0755300877)
• US trade paperback:Riverhead Books (an imprint ofPenguin USA), 1 December 2009 (ISBN 978-1594484551)

Coco and Igor has been translated into several languages, including:

• French: 'Coco et Igor' – Calmann-Levy, 8 April 2009, translated by Elsa Maggion (ISBN 978-2702139813)
• Russian: 'Villa Bel Respiro' – Symposium, 1 June 2009 (ISBN 978-8-87-4966851)
• Polish: 'Coco i Igor' – Wydawnictwo Amber, 2002, translated by Barbara Przbylowska (ISBN 83-241-0170-5)
• Greek: 'Coco and Igor' – Empeiria, November 2003, translated by Persa Koumoutsi (ISBN 960-417-044-9)
• Chinese: 'Coco and Igor' – Sun Color Culture Publishing Co. Ltd, October 2009 (ISBN 978-9862291764)