Although the main characters are named Clark Gable and Loretta Young, this book is much more fiction than history. Loretta Young and Clark Gable did have a child out of wedlock (probably) that was later “adopted” by Loretta and that is the extent of the “historical” part of the love story. That said, the book is quite fascinating for the many stories of the beginning of the movie industry in Hollywood. Loretta and Clark were stars in the twenties, thirties and forties. Clark’s movie popularity extended until his death in 1960 reaching its zenith with Gone with Wind. Both Gable and Young were Academy Awards winners for best actor. Young’s career in films slowed considerably in the 1950’s, but she moved to television and achieved great success there also.
The interesting characters of Alda (Young’s assistant and friend) and her husband (a gifted movie scene painter) are entirely fictional. Nonetheless they bring life to the behind the scenes episodes of movie making and are well rounded. Movie aficionados will like seeing the sketches of famous actors, directors, producers and other Hollywood folk interspersed throughout the book.
At nearly 500 pages the book is too long and needed some judicious editing. Many of the scenes detailing Young’s opinions and thoughts, especially concerning Gable, are repetitious and boring.
4 of 5 stars

Adrianna Trigiani is a brilliant writer - why she had to resort to a Hollywood love story based on real characters is a mystery to me. The basic story was informative, some descriptions of being on location and the activity in the studio while filming was interesting. There was too much analyzing and preaching in the book - but it didn't flow with the dialogue. Not one of her better writes.

In mentioning real people in this book, the reader finds themselves questioning what the author made up and what is real history. It made me uncomfortable and I didn't enjoy reading this book.

I liked the story line and a rather quick read. I felt it was a good break from reading the rather intense books the club has previously been reading.

It was like reading the supermarket movie mags.

It was interesting to read this after reading a Touch of Stardust , about Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. This one is about the romance between Clark Gable and Loretta Young, although much more about Loretta Young's life and career. IT is fiction. I enjoyed reading it -- maybe I am a sap for old Hollywood romances. And I'm sure we really don't know all that went on in the Golden Age of Hollywood, no matter what biographies have been written. I had not read reviews until after finishing the book and was surprised to see so much criticism of it. However I do understand where people are coming from -- one of the biggest criticisms seemed to be writing about people when there is still family left that could be hurt by some of the story. But Frankly I think that happens all over. I still think its worth the read and I enjoyed it.