Product Description

Part history, part gossip-fest, and part fiction, The Secret Letters is compellingly set against the glittering backdrop of Hollywood and Washington during the 1950s and 1960s, and reveals Marilyn and Jackie as never before. Compulsively readable, the letters present the two legends as friends and enemies, the wife and the mistress, both in love with the same man. They reveal how much Jackie knew about Marilyn's affair with JFK and offer a chilling theory about Marilyn's death. Wendy Leigh, The New York Times bestselling author of Prince Charming: The John F. Kennedy, Jr., Story, has created a daring concept and has delivered it in fascinating detail. Each letter is based on real documents and true events, and is rich with factual research on both women, the turbulent era in which they lived and loved, and the real characters who touched their lives. A dazzling tour de force of empathy and imagination, The Secret Letters is a hypnotic read that will enthrall Marilyn and Jackie fans.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1056469 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

From Booklist
Leigh, biographer to the stars (including Liza Minelli, Prince Edward, and JFK Jr.), has apparently discovered a more innovative method for exploiting celebrities. In this weird novel, Leigh has imagined several years of correspondence between Marilyn Monroe and Jacqueline Kennedy. Although it is not badly written and is fairly compelling to read, the stereotypes (emotional nutcase and slutty sex-maniac Marilyn versus the Queen of all established society, Jacqueline Kennedy) are overblown, and reading it feels somehow inappropriate. The novel takes place during the years between Marilyn's marriage to Joe DiMaggio (who doesn't come off looking very good here) and her alleged affair with President Kennedy (which she confesses to Mrs. Kennedy in full, lurid detail). In addition, while Leigh clearly states that this is a novel, she incorporates actual events as well as footnotes that blur the line between fiction and reality. There will likely be many, many readers requesting this book. Kathleen Hughes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Leigh's imagined correspondence between two fabled goddesses...is utterly fasciinating....I began to think I was reading the real thing." -- ,Dominick Dunne,

"Leigh’s imagined correspondence between two fabled goddesses...is utterly fascinating....I began to think I was reading the real thing." -- Dominick Dunne

"Pop biographer Leigh switches gears for a richly researched and oddly successful novel about fictional letters between Marilyn and Jackie." -- Kirkus Reviews, 1/15/03

Review

Customer Reviews

A great romantic read
Bought the book in New York before flying back to England this weekend, and read it non-stop during the flight. The moment I finished it, I started it all over again. Because, although it is an extremely easy read, the book - which tells the story of Marilyn's love affair with Jack Kennedy through her letters to Jackie Kennedy - works on so many different levels. Apart from the fact that you really feel that you are reading a true correspondence, this book gives more insight into Marilyn and Jackie than any biography of either of them I've ever read. The letters change from being letters between strangers, to letters between friends, and then, rivals. When I finished the book, I felt as if I had been in another world, another time, and had in the hearts and minds of both Marilyn and Jackie. Before I read the book, as someone who admires Jackie, I was afraid it might be disrespectful of her. But that is not the case. The letters reflect everything I've read about her in biographies - and much more. And made me care about her more than ever. The ending of the book made me cry - it seemed so real, so true, so very sad - and went to the heart of Marilyn and Jackie. As I said before, I am reading it again and can't recommend it enough. Reading The Secret Letters is as addictive as eating Godiva chocolate. Enjoy.

An Unexpected Pleasure and Delight
Having been a huge MM fan for most of my life, I have to say I've read just about every book out there on her life and career. When I came across this title a few months ago, I debated whether it was going to be worth buying a copy. After all, this could be either fabulous or downright awful, depending on how the book was written. Well, I had trouble putting this book down! It is excellent, imaginative and well-written. Both of the 'leading ladies' in the book, Marilyn and Jackie, are treated as two very human, lovely, fragile women who begin an unexpected correspondence and friendship. The premise is believable and once I got into the book, the 'willful suspension of disbelief' was easy as a reader. I found myself wishing that these two intriguing, amazing women had truly had such a correspondence. If you are a fan of either, or both, I don't believe you will be disappointed in this book. Ms. Leigh made these two elegant and attractive ladies 'human' and believable. This book was truly a pleasure to read and I am glad to add it to my MM collection.

A Thumping Good Read!
Wendy Leigh has accomplished a truly amazing feat with her most recent book! As a biographer, what better subjects could she find? And, how better could she have revealed the secret nature of two of the most mysterious women in American popular culture?

What could have been a strange fantasy became a living experience for me as I read the letters between Marilyn and Jackie. I kept reminding myself that these letters - though historically and accurately encapsulated in time - were in fact, a work of fiction.

The relationship between Jackie and Marilyn that develops in the course of the book via the age-old epistolary genre is highly plausible - if alarming to consider - and there is no doubt that the evolution of such a relationship could truly have occurred.

Both women come across as needing something from the other that no-one else could provide, and though we know from history that both women were polarities in background, appearance and status, their meeting place was in the relationship bound up with John Kennedy.

This book is a page-turner, it is impossible to put it down because the authenticity of the writing, and the dramatis personae are so realistic, that I "forgot" that this was a work of fiction.

However, by the end of the book, fiction becomes so enmeshed with facts that one is completely bound up in the last few pages, and left thinking - as usual - "what really did happen"?

The emotional denoument is critical to the book - it simply must be read in sequence. Chilling, sad and possibly too too true. . .one is simply compelled to read on. And, "hurrah" to Ms. Leigh for her bravery and creativity to have brought such challenging subjects together in this well researched and brilliantly written book.