by Sam Kashner
First published 2010
Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger chronicle the legendary romance between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Hollywood's most notorious couple. The authors draw on exclusive interviews with Taylor herself and Burton's private letters to reveal the complete story of their relationship. The book traces their scandalous affair during the filming of Cleopatra, which earned Vatican condemnation, through their two marriages that captivated the world for nearly twenty-five years. Kashner and Schoenberger examine Burton's Welsh origins, the couple's extravagant lifestyle among elite friends like Princess Grace and Montgomery Clift, and their struggles with alcoholism and health problems. The authors show how Taylor and Burton's very public relationship reflected America's changing attitudes toward celebrity, marriage, and morality, while revealing the private struggles behind their glamorous facade and the genuine love that endured beneath the drama.
Genres: biography, drama, romance, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-love
Setting: Cleopatra, Vatican
Period: 1960s
500 pages · Hardcover · HarperCollins
Content warnings: alcohol-abuse, drug-use, mental-illness