First published 1982
Clare Boothe Luce lived multiple lives across America's most turbulent decades. Sheed traces her journey from ambitious young writer to Broadway playwright, from war correspondent to congresswoman, from ambassador to controversial public figure. The biography reveals how Luce navigated male-dominated worlds of politics, journalism, and diplomacy while crafting her own brand of sharp-tongued conservatism. Sheed examines her marriages, her conversion to Catholicism, her feuds with fellow Republicans, and her complicated relationship with power. He shows how Luce's wit became both weapon and shield as she moved through circles of influence from New York's literary scene to Washington's corridors of power. The portrait that emerges captures a woman who refused conventional roles yet struggled with the personal costs of her ambitions.
Genres: biography, historical, historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, politics, biography-memoir, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: ambitious-protagonist, gender-roles, power-dynamics
Setting: America, New York, Washington
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
378 pages · Unbound · Thorndike Press