Sarah

by Joel Gross

Book Overview

They called her the Divine Sarah. The glorious symbol of a decadent and sensual age. Ambitious, flamboyant, scandalous but above all . adored. "A wrenching portrait of a great actress."-Washington... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688067034
• ISBN13: 9780688067038
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 340 Pages
• Weight: 1.52 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Set Pieces that Make Me Want to Learn More

Joel Gross's take on Sarah Bernhardt, that she was soothed only by applause and was disappointed in all other aspects of her life, is an interesting one. The chapters are almost separate set pieces - some of which work remarkably well, and some not so much. I would have liked to have seen how Madame Sarah progressed from an awkward, little-known actress to the star that she became, and the segments dealing with her childhood left me with little sympathy for her due to her brattiness. The segment where her former lover visits her just before she is due to go onstage however, is so moving as to have caused me to cry. I would have loved to have known the process of writing this book - did it take several years? Did the author have help? Some chapters were so well done, and others seemed almost slapdash. All in all, a worthy effort, however, and I will be interested in reading an objective biography of Madame Sarah in order to learn more of her story.