More Than Love A Book Review
I don't think I've ever done a book review on my blog before, which is funny because I read books on Old Hollywood stars all the time. I'm starting my first post about a book on Natalie Wood. On May 5th of this year, More Than Love: An Intimate Portrait of my Mother, Natalie Wood was released. It's written by Natalie Wood's oldest daughter, Natasha Gregson Wagner. As a Natalie Wood fan for 16 years I was interested in reading this book. I had read Suzanne Finstad's Natasha and Gavin Lambert's Natalie Wood: A Life, plus I had seen a handful of documentaries about Natalie, so I know a lot about who she was. However, I didn't know personal details about her which were shared by her daughter. Natasha tells a lovely account of growing up with Natalie Wood as her mother. She shares the strong love they had for one another. How she believed she had the perfect mother despite Natalie's flaws. And how she learned to go on with her life after her mother died. She shares sweet and humorous stories about growing up in the house on Old Oak Drive. How her parents threw lively parties and how she and how their house was always full of people and animals and love. There are two different stories when it comes to Natalie Wood's death, you either believe Robert Wagner murdered her or you believe it was an accidental death and she slipped and fell, drowning in the water. Natasha firmly believes the latter and ferociously defends her stepfather, Robert Wagner. She discusses this a few times throughout the book. She says she is sorry for everything her aunt Lana has been through but doesn't understand why she lies to the media about Natalie's death. Natasha was 11 years old when her mother died. She describes how she was spending the night at a friend's house when she heard a voice on the radio say Natalie Wood has drowned. She kept repeating, she's not dead, maybe she broke her leg. She goes into detail about how it was the days following her mother's death, including how she slept in her parents' bed, how Courtney was too young to understand and Natalie's funeral. The first part of the book is about Natalie, appropriately titled, With, Natasha tells about her parent's marriage falling apart, her relationship with her biological father, her mother remarrying Robert Wagner and her younger sister, Courtney being born. The second part of the book, titled, Without, is life without Natalie. She candidly discusses her struggles with grief, she once even took an overdose of pills not too long after her mother died. Finding therapy, she even mentions taking Prozac to help ease her pain. Natasha says she thought she found the perfect guy, even marrying him, because he reminded her of her mother. The third part of the book titled, Within, discussed Natasha's life for the past 10 years. How she met a great man, they fell in love and had a daughter. And how she wants her daughter to know her mother by showing her Natalie's films and talking about her. It's an interesting book and I learned many details I never knew. It's also filled with many photographs I had never seen before. It's a fairly easy read with 20 chapters. I'd recommend it to Natalie Wood fans, Old Hollywood fans or those interested in biographies and autobiographies. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Until Next Time,
Ashley A.
Comments
Post a Comment