Five Love Affairs and a Friendship: The Paris Life of Nancy Cunard, Icon of the Jazz Age 4 (Pages 154 - 274)

 

The next chapter starts with Nancy attending the opening of the London nightclub, The Gargoyle. The Gargoyle Club was a private club on the upper floors of 69 Dean Street, Soho, London, at the corner with Meard Street. It was founded on 16 January 1925 by the aristocratic socialite David Tennant, son of the First Baron Glenconner. 

Nancy had an affair with John Rodker. John Rodker (18 December 1894 – 6 October 1955) was an English writer, modernist poet, and publisher of modernist writers.

Nancy published her long narrative poem, Parallax, in 1925. 

In tthis period Art Deco became the mainstream fashion. Art Deco is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished internationally during the 1920s to early 1930s, through styling and design of the exterior and interior of anything from large structures to small objects, including clothing, fashion, and jewellery. 

Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald became friends. April 1925 in Paris, France. At the time, Fitzgerald was already a famous literary celebrity (The Great Gatsby), while Hemingway was a young, struggling journalist and rising writer.

Hemingway went to Pamplona with some of his acquaintances: Duff Twysden, Harold Loeb and Pat Guthrie. He was attracted to Duff, and Loeb tried to mediate. Then years later he wrote his book, "The Sun Also Rises" where all these people could be recognised. 

Ernest Hemingway arrived in Pamplona in July 1923 as a reporter for a major Canadian newspaper, the Toronto Star. His 1925 visit inspired his breakthrough 1926 novel, which immortalized the running of the bulls and the expatriate scene for an international audience.

Mary Duff Stirling Smurthwaite, Lady Twysden (22 May 1891 – 27 June 1938) was a British socialite best known for being the model for Brett Ashley in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises.

Harold Albert Loeb (October 18, 1891 – January 20, 1974) was an American writer, notable as an important American figure in the arts among expatriates in Paris in the 1920s. 

Nancy met John Strachey, an MP, who was impressed by her alternative lifestyle. Evelyn John St Loe Strachey (21 October 1901 – 15 July 1963) was a British Labour politician and writer.

Around this time Josephine Baker debuted in Paris, causing a real storm. Freda Josephine Baker (June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975)[3] was an American-born French dancer, singer, and actress. Baker sailed to Paris in 1925 and opened on October 2 in La Revue nègre at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, performing Danse Sauvage with fr:Joe Alex, barely wearing a feather skirt.

Nancy's father died, and around this time, Nancy divorced Sydney, who wanted to remarry. And Nancy started an affair with Louis Aragon. 

There was a scandal when in 1926 George Antheil debuted with Ballet mecanique. George Johann Carl Antheil (July 8, 1900 – February 12, 1959) was an American avant-garde composer, pianist, author, and inventor whose modernist musical compositions explored the sounds – musical, industrial, and mechanical – of the early 20th century. Antheil's best-known composition is Ballet Mécanique. On April 10, 1927, Antheil rented New York's Carnegie Hall to present an entire concert devoted to his works, including the American debut of Ballet Mécanique in a scaled-down version. The concert started well, but according to the concert's promoter and producer, when the wind machine was turned on, "all hell, in a minor way, broke loose." During the gale, audience members clutched their programs and their hats, one "tied a handkerchief to his cane and waved it wildly in the air in a sign of surrender." Much to the amusement of the audience, the untested siren failed to sound on cue, despite frantic cranking and reached its climax only after the end of the performance, as the audience was clapping and leaving the hall

Hemingway had an affair with Pauline Pfeiffer and asked Hadley for a divorce. He eventually married Pauline. Pauline Marie Pfeiffer (July 22, 1895 – October 1, 1951) was an American journalist and the second wife of writer Ernest Hemingway. 

Nancy decided to have her own printing press, which she called The Hours. 

Harry Crosby started an affair with Josephine Noyes Rotch, and we learn that he and Josephine were found dead some years later. On July 9, 1928, Crosby met 20-year-old Josephine Noyes Rotch. Josephine and Crosby had an ongoing affair until June 21, 1929, when she married Albert Smith Bigelow. Their affair was over—until August, when Josephine contacted Crosby and they rekindled the affair. On November 20, 1929, the Crosbys returned to the United States. Crosby and Josephine met and traveled to Detroit, where they took meals in their room, smoked opium, and had sex. On December 10, 1929, Caresse, Crosby's mother Henrietta Grew, and Hart Crane met for dinner before a play, but Crosby did not show up, which was uncharacteristic of him as it was not like him to needlessly cause Caresse to worry. She called their friend, painter Stanley Mortimer  at his mother's apartment, whose studio Crosby was known to use for his trysts. He agreed to check his studio. Mortimer had to enlist help to break open the locked door and found Crosby and Josephine's bodies. Crosby was in bed with a .25 calibre bullet hole in his right temple next to Josephine, who had a matching hole in her left temple. Crosby was still clutching the Belgian automatic pistol in one hand, Josephine in the other.

Nancy started a love affair with Henry Crowder. Henry Crowder (1890–1955) was an American jazz musician. He was an important figure in the European jazz culture of his time. 

Richard Aldington became friends with Nancy. Richard Aldington ( 8 July 1892 – 27 July 1962) was an English writer and poet. He lived in Paris for years, living with Brigit Patmore and fascinated by Nancy Cunard, whom he met in 1928. 

Aragon was depressed after Nancy started her relationship with Henry, and Aragon was pursued by Elsa Triolet. Ella Yuryevna Kagan (12 September 1896– 16 June 1970), known as Elsa Triolet, was a Russian-French writer. In 1928 Elsa met French writer Louis Aragon. They stayed together for 42 years and married in 1939.

Andre Thirion was a friend of Aragon's, who supported him, and after his breakup with Nancy, Andre got to meet Nancy. André Thirion (14 July 1907 – 4 January 2001) was a French writer, a member of the group of surrealists, a theorist and political activist. 

Nancy decided to have a contest for poems about time, and the winner was Samuel Becket with his poem "Whoroscope".  Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish playwright, novelist, and poet. 

Nancy met James Joyce when he wanted her to talk to her mother and Stephen Beecham because he wanted Beechan to have John O'Sullivan to sing in his opera. Beechan listened to O'Sullivan but he was not engaged. 

Nancy continued supporting surrealism. Raymond Michelet was a young man, son of a police officer, who ran away to join the surrealist. His father went after him, but he was concealed by his partners. Nancy had an affair with him. 

The Vicomte and Vicomtess de Noailles financed Buñuel's L'age d'or, which caused outrage in France. Nancy loved it and got a copy to exhibit it. L'Age d'Or  is a 1930 French surrealist satirical comedy film directed by Luis Buñuel; the film is about the insanities of modern life, the hypocrisy of the sexual mores of bourgeois society, and the value system of the Catholic Church.

Yvonne's mother found out about Henry and that was the end of their relationship. 

In 1931 Nancy started to compile an anthology by and about black people. She was inpired by the conviction of nine African-American teenagers falsely accused of raping two white women. They were named the Scottsboro boys. 

By this time Henry was tired of Nancy's treatment and decided to return to the USA. His wife won't take him back as she had heard of his affair with Nancy. He returned to France to break up with Nancy properly, but she persuaded him to travel togeher to New York.