by Priya Parmar
First published 2026
After her brother's death, young Katharine Hepburn makes two promises to herself: she will become famous, and she will never let anyone hurt her again. At twenty-one, she abandons her East Coast marriage and patrician family to pursue Broadway, then follows opportunity to Los Angeles with her lover Laura. Hollywood in the early 1930s runs on secrets and ambition. Kate enters the studio system despite her confrontational nature and unconventional beauty, but stardom comes with rules she refuses to follow. Brilliant, bisexual, and independent, she moves through a circle of powerful figures including David and Irene Selznick, Cary Grant, John Ford, and Howard Hughes. Each harbors their own secrets while chasing success. As Kate's career rises, she faces an impossible choice: become the star the industry demands or risk everything to remain the woman she truly is.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, biographical-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: East Coast, Hollywood, Los Angeles
Period: 1930s
384 pages · Hardcover · Ballantine Books
Content warnings: sexual-content