Virginia Ferguson

This book defies traditional biographies of the classic Hollywood stars. With its eye for detail, infinite research, and psychological framing, we learn more about the workings of Hollywood than ever before and its destructive effect on the stars that we loved. In The Great Lie, Mary Astor becomes for the reader a human being - not a cover girl beauty and competent actress - with real desires, frustrations, relationships, and issues that tear her apart. But then don't. Kathleen Spaltro takes a magnifying glass to not only her illustrious roles and her career trajectory but gives the reader a young girl developing into a woman caught in the web of manipulation by those she believed she could trust, when all she wanted was her authentic self, her own choices, and love she never had. I loved this book. I loved Mary's bravery, her ability to take the punches and survive on her own terms. She is an inspiration.