Truly, Madly, Stephen Galloway
Truly, Madly, Stephen Galloway
List: $31.99 | Sale: $22.40
Club: $15.99

Truly, Madly
Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, and the Romance of the Century

Bestseller

Author: Stephen Galloway

Narrator: Molly Parker Myers

Unabridged: 13 hr 18 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/22/2022

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

A sweeping and heartbreaking Hollywood biography about the passionate, turbulent marriage of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh.

In 1934, a friend brought fledgling actress Vivien Leigh to see Theatre Royal, where she would first lay eyes on Laurence Olivier in his brilliant performance as Anthony Cavendish. That night, she confided to a friend, he was the man she was going to marry. There was just one problem: she was already married—and so was he.

TRULY, MADLY is the biography of a marriage, a love affair that still captivates millions, even decades after both actors' deaths. Vivien and Larry were two of the first truly global celebrities – their fame fueled by the explosive growth of tabloids and television, which helped and hurt them in equal measure. They seemed to have it all and yet, in their own minds, they were doomed, blighted by her long-undiagnosed mental-illness, which transformed their relationship from the stuff of dreams into a living nightmare.

Through new research, including exclusive access to previously unpublished correspondence and interviews with their friends and family, author Stephen Galloway takes readers on a bewitching journey. He brilliantly studies their tempestuous liaison, one that took place against the backdrop of two world wars, the Golden Age of Hollywood and the upheavals of the 1960s — as they struggled with love, loss and the ultimate agony of their parting.  

Reviews

Goodreads review by Pooja on April 12, 2022

Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier were an iconic couple in the acting industry, with their combined talent and looks. But the turbulent thread of mental illness ran through their intense romance, ultimately tearing them apart. I only vaguely know both these figures, Leigh better than Olivier because......more

Goodreads review by Karen on November 17, 2024

Are you a fan of old Hollywood? Because...If you are... This is about Vivien Leigh and Laurence Oliver and what is considered the romance of the century. (That in essence is the subtitle of this book.) And...What makes this book different from all other biographys about these same actors is that it t......more

Goodreads review by Jim on June 21, 2022

TRULY, MADLY: VIVIEN LEIGH, LAURENCE OLIVIER, AND THE ROMANCE OF THE CENTURY is both fascinating and exasperating at the same time. It is fascinating in that it explores the work of two artists who are caught in the throes of mental instability to very different degrees. It is exasperating in the pa......more

Goodreads review by Rory on April 15, 2022

Besides the author's stringent assertion that Larry never had an affair with Danny, this was a delicious read. Needed more pictures of these gorgeous people, though.......more