Portrait of a Survivor
by Beverly Linet
Susan Hayward is one of my all-time favorite actresses, and since she always portrayed such strong, self-confident, brazen women on the screen, I was very excited to learn her life story. I was shocked to learn she was actually nothing like her onscreen persona, so if you’re a Hayward fan who would be disappointed to see her differently, you might not want to read up on her personal life.
While Beverly Linet covers the bare-bones of Susan Hayward’s life—her childhood accident that left her crippled, her name change from Edythe Marrener, her marriages and devotion to her twin sons—her writing style is extremely noncommittal. She seems determined not to offend her readers or Miss Hayward’s spirit, but in doing so, she comes across as cautious and unsure. For example, while writing about Susan’s extremely difficult and messy divorce, Linet provides he-said-she-said passages, so the readers are left wondering what exactly happened. Rather than taking a stance and seeing it through, Linet includes transcripts from the divorce trial, which of course is more he-said-she-said arguments.
At the end of the book, I felt that I’d read the synopsis of a Susan Hayward biography, rather than 300 pages of information. It just wasn’t good enough, but thankfully I read another book and learned more about her.
Be sure and check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of another Susan Hayward biography, Brooklyn's Scarlett: Fire in the Wind here!
Be sure and check out Hot Toasty Rag's reviews of Susan Hayward's films here!
While Beverly Linet covers the bare-bones of Susan Hayward’s life—her childhood accident that left her crippled, her name change from Edythe Marrener, her marriages and devotion to her twin sons—her writing style is extremely noncommittal. She seems determined not to offend her readers or Miss Hayward’s spirit, but in doing so, she comes across as cautious and unsure. For example, while writing about Susan’s extremely difficult and messy divorce, Linet provides he-said-she-said passages, so the readers are left wondering what exactly happened. Rather than taking a stance and seeing it through, Linet includes transcripts from the divorce trial, which of course is more he-said-she-said arguments.
At the end of the book, I felt that I’d read the synopsis of a Susan Hayward biography, rather than 300 pages of information. It just wasn’t good enough, but thankfully I read another book and learned more about her.
Be sure and check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of another Susan Hayward biography, Brooklyn's Scarlett: Fire in the Wind here!
Be sure and check out Hot Toasty Rag's reviews of Susan Hayward's films here!