Strangers in the Night
A Novel of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
It was the tumultuous romance that scandalized the world: Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner fought, loved, and lived life to the hilt. Now their unbridled story is brought vividly to life by Heather Webb, the bestselling author of Meet Me in Monaco and The Next Ship Home.
In the golden age of Hollywood, two of the brightest stars would define—and defy—an era…
She was the small-town southern beauty transformed into a Hollywood love goddess. He was the legendary crooner whose voice transfixed the world. They were Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra. Separately they were irresistible; together they were an explosive combination.
Ava’s star is rising just as Frank’s career—and public image as a family man—is taking a hit. Gone are the days of the screaming bobbysoxers and chart-topping hits. Ava, however, finds herself gracing the front page of every tabloid in America. Jealousy and cheating abound, and when the two succumb to their temperaments and their vices, their happiness is threatened at every turn.
As the pair ride the rollercoaster of success and failure, passion and anger, they both wonder if the next turn will be the end of their careers, and most devastating of all—the end of all they’ve shared.
A captivating novel with a star-studded cast spanning continents and decades, Strangers in the Night brings to life the most riveting love story of the twentieth century.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Webb (The Next Ship Home) turns to the glamour, passion, and competitiveness of Golden Age Hollywood with a stilted reimagining of the stormy relationship between Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner. The leads take turns, in remarkably similar narrative voices, recounting their love story's twists and turns. The first time Frank sets eyes on Ava at the Hollywood Palladium in the early 1940s, he wants her, despite already being married to Nancy, his childhood sweetheart. Ava is, for him, "The kind of woman that knocked the air from your lungs." The feeling isn't mutual. Ava is married to Mickey Rooney and is focused on her career, determined to move from being one of MGM's "love goddesses" to a serious actor. After five years of acting classes and studio publicity gigs, and two divorces, she's finally on the brink of stardom. Ava and Frank have a series of chance encounters during those years, and despite her reservations, she senses a "tender and passionate" side to Frank. Webb stuffs in all the highlights of Frank and Ava's Hollywood lives but offers no new insights or meaningful character development. As the couple's on-and-off relationship brings tumult to their lives, readers, too, will wonder if it's worth going the distance. For a story about two oversized and magnetic personalities, this is surprisingly flat.
