The Original
The stunning novel that takes us behind the scenes in the life of Katharine Hepburn
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- Vorbestellbar
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- Erwartet am 18. Juni 2026
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- 10,99 €
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- Vorbestellbar
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- 10,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
Katharine Hepburn was a legend. This is the novel of how she became one.
After the devastating loss of her beloved brother, young Katharine Hepburn makes two vows: she will become famous, and she will never let anyone hurt her again. Leaving behind her East Coast marriage and icy patrician family, she arrives in 1930s Hollywood - accompanied by her lover and determined to live on her own terms. But the studio system has rules. And Kate - brilliant, bisexual, and fiercely independent - refuses to follow them. .
Drawn into a glittering circle that includes the powerful David and Irene Selznick, the dazzling Cary Grant, ambitious director John Ford, and the millionaire tycoon Howard Hughes, she moves through a world of sex, ambition, and betrayal. As her star ascends, Kate faces an impossible choice: become the star Hollywood demands, or risk everything to become the woman she always was.
Blending meticulous research with incandescent imagination, Priya Parmar delivers a bold, emotionally charged portrait of an icon who shattered convention and refused to be anything but original.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Parmar (Vanessa and Her Sister) brings to life 1930s Hollywood with this revealing biographical novel about Katharine Hepburn. Daughter of a prominent Connecticut suffragist and a physician, Kate is devastated at 13 by her older brother Tom's death by suicide. Eventually, she manages to move forward, graduating from Bryn Mawr, marrying her college sweetheart, and embarking on a theater career in New York. A screen test for RKO Pictures leads to an offer for a part in the film A Bill of Divorcement, and Kate accepts, leaving for Los Angeles with her friend Laura Harding. As she and Laura try to hide their romantic relationship from the press, Kate embarks on an affair with her agent, Leland Hayward, while maintaining a friendship with producer David Selznick's wife, Irene, and megastar Cary Grant, who dispels rumors about his romantic relationship with Randolph Scott by marrying a starlet. Parmar sensitively explores Kate's sexuality, which she keeps hidden throughout her career, as well as her vulnerability following Tom's death and her quest to remain true to her artistic vision despite pressure to adhere to the Hollywood image of a female star. Historical fiction fans will be drawn to this immersive portrait of the legendary actor.
