Passionate Spirit - The Life of Alma Mahler

__________________________''Fascinating ... Haste paints a portrait of a woman who was born to triumph, not surrender'' - Harper-s Bazaar''Written in elegant, lucid prose ... a treasure trove of European cultural riches and scandalous intrigue - Compelling'' - Economist''Lively, well illustrated and enjoyably juicy'' - Miranda Seymour, Financial Times__________________________The life of an extraordinary artist and intellect: the composer, author and socialite Alma Mahler, whose life spanned one of the most captivating and dramatic periods in historyAlma Mahler was once at the epicentre of Vienna-s artistic and intellectual life. A talented composer in her own right, she was open, generous, remarkably creative, curious, challenging and zealous in her pursuit of love. Artists, architects, musicians and writers jostled to join her coterie. Gustav Klimt was her first kiss; Gustav Mahler her first husband. But her life was haun