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"(About Mata Hari) The painters she posed for were disappointed by her small breasts, and she was often forced into prostitution. She had much better luck when she decided to perform as an exotic dancer. Undaunted by her ignorance and unpreparedness, she began introducing herself as Lady Gresha MacLeod. She claimed to be the daughter of an Indian priestess and to have grown up in a Shiva temple. [...] Her decision to perform only in private homes, probably the only possible choice given her technical unpreparedness, had accentuated the exotic aura of mystery she loved to surround herself with. Less demanding than artists, high society was struck by this tall, slender woman, with lively, burning eyes beneath her mass of dark hair. A witness recalled her superb figure and her noble, simple, and personality-filled bearing. She was the embodiment of the femme fatales that crowded the paintings and novels of the time; she was Gustave Moreaus half-naked, bejeweled Salomé."
Giuseppe Scaraffia
