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‘Truly, Madly’ full of dish, glam, and eccentricities

Exploring the fiery romance of Olivier and Vivien Leigh

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(Book cover image courtesy of Grand Central Publishing)

‘Truly, Madly’
By Stephen Galloway
c.2022, Grand Central Publishing
$30/406 pages

“Real passion — I’ve only seen it that once,” actress Jill Esmond told her son Tarquin. “If you are ever hit by it, God help you.”

Esmond, the first wife of actor Laurence Olivier, was speaking of the fiery romance of Olivier and the actress Vivien Leigh.

Decades before paparazzi trailed the tempestuous trysts of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, there was the love-struck coupling of Hollywood royalty Olivier and Leigh.

You might think love and passion are only dramatic in Shakespeare or movies from Hollywood’s Golden Age. But “Truly, Madly: Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, and the Romance of the Century” by Stephen Galloway, former executive editor of The Hollywood Reporter, tells a story as steamy and spellbinding as any of Will’s tales or Tinseltown’s plots.

Much has been written about Olivier, who lived from 1907 to 1989, and Leigh, who died in 1967 at age 53, – from Donald Spoto’s superb 1992 biography of Olivier to Alan Strachan’s engaging Leigh bio “Dark Star.” Olivier wrote two memoirs “Confessions of an Actor” and “On Acting.” 

Yet Galloway, now dean of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, provides a fresh take on this well-trod ground.   

It’s tempting to view Olivier and Leigh as Tinseltown mavens who had it all. But Galloway makes it clear that there was much pain in the midst of the glittering surface of their  relationship.

Olivier, born in Dorking, Surrey, England, was renowned for his work on stage and screen. “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Entertainer” were among his many acclaimed productions in the theater. He received numerous honors, including a Best Actor Oscar for his role in “Hamlet.” In 1947, he was knighted.

Leigh was born in India. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she married Leigh Holman. She took her stage name “Leigh” from him. Leigh and Holman had a daughter named Suzanne.

Leigh is remembered most for her portrayal of Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone with the Wind” and her performance as Blanche DuBois in “A Streetcar Named Desire.” She won the best actress Oscar for both movies.

Olivier became transfixed by Leigh when he saw her perform on stage in 1935. For two years, “Day in and day out, they would sneak off the set of their new movie,” Galloway writes, “or sit lost amid a swirl of dreams, real-life versions of the lovers they would later play, Romeo and Juliet.”

In 1937, Olivier and Leigh ran away together, though they were both married to other people. The couple carried out their affair at a time when divorce wasn’t common. Then, Hollywood wanted its stars’ extra-marital liaisons to be kept secret.

After Esmond and Holman divorced them, Olivier and Leigh got married in 1940.

Katharine Hepburn was the maid of honor and writer Garson Kanin was the best man at their wedding. Kanin’s account of the nuptials (Hepburn says she’s a “prude” – the newlyweds talk is too “racy” for her) is laugh-out-loud funny.

“Truly, Madly” is full of dish, glam and eccentricities. Celebs from Noel Coward to Marilyn Monroe appear. Along with a lemur named Tony. Olivier gives Tony to Esmond to cheer her up when their marriage is on the rocks.

Galloway doesn’t shy from or overly emphasize speculations about sexuality. Friends talk of Esmond having “liaisons” with women. Despite Olivier’s denials, Spoto and others claim that Olivier had affairs with Danny Kaye and Noel Coward. 

Though they adored each other, Olivier and Leigh’s marriage wasn’t a Coward cocktail party.

Leigh had bipolar disorder. At that time, there wasn’t the treatment for this condition that there is today, and there was much stigma around mental illness. It’s easy to romanticize or sensationalize mental illness. By talking with Kay Redford Jamison and other mental health experts, Galloway avoids these pitfalls.

A friend visited Olivier shortly before he died, Galloway reports. Olivier was watching Leigh in one of her movies. “This, this was love,” Olivier told his friend.

“Truly, Madly” is a fab read. Warning: have a handkerchief in hand.

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Books

I’m a lesbian and LGBTQ books would have changed my life

Misguided parents pushing Montgomery County court case

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(Photo by gOrlica/Bigstock)

As a child born in Maryland in the 80’s, I had very few LGBTQ+ role models other than Elton John and Ellen DeGeneres. In high school, I went through the motions of going out on Friday nights with boyfriends and dancing with them at prom, but I felt nothing. I desperately wanted to fit in, and it took me until my senior year of high school to finally admit to myself that I was different – and that it hurt too much to hide it anymore. 

When I think back on those years, I feel the heartache and pain all over again. I used to lay awake at night begging God not to make me gay. When a boy on my Cross Country team accused me and my friends of being lesbians, I scoffed and said, “You wish.” I hid my true self in cheap wine coolers while my hate for myself festered. 

I found healing in books, my creative writing class, and my school’s literary magazine. Writing allowed me to hold up a mirror to myself and see that I could be many things: a loving daughter and sister, a supportive friend, a dedicated member of the Cross Country team, and also a girl who wanted a girlfriend. In my love poems, I evolved from ambiguous pronouns to distinctly feminine ones. When I felt ready to tell my best friend, I showed her one of my poems. To my surprise, the world did not end. She smiled and said, “It’s a good poem. Are you ready to go to the mall?” 

I’m one of the lucky ones. When I finally did come out to my parents, they told me they would always love me and want me to be happy. That’s not the case for more than 40% of LGBTQ+ youth, who are kicked out of their homes after they find the courage to tell their family who they truly are. We are facing a mental health epidemic among LGBTQ+ youth, with 41% seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, the vast majority living in homes that aren’t accepting. 

Some of the dissenting parents in Mahmoud vs. Taylor argue that inclusive books aren’t appropriate for elementary school kids. To clarify, these books are simply available in schools – they aren’t required reading for anyone. There is nothing sexual or provocative about stories like “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding” or “Jacob’s Room to Choose” that send a very simple, non-political message: We all are different, and we all deserve to be treated with respect. Opting out of books that show diversity, out of fear that it might “make kids gay” fails to recognize a fundamental truth: art, pop culture, even vegan food cannot make someone gay. I was born this way. There were times I wished that I wasn’t, and that was because I didn’t have books like these telling me it was OK to be who I am. 

I wonder how many parents opting out of these books will end up having a LGBTQ+ child. It is both horrible and true that these parents have two choices: love and accept your LGBTQ+ child, or risk losing them. Now that I’m a parent myself, I feel more than ever that our one aim in parenthood is to love our kids for exactly who they are, not who we want them to be. 

For several years, a grocery store in Silver Spring, Md., displayed a poem I wrote for my mother in my school’s literary magazine. I wrote about how she taught me that red and blue popples can play together, and that Barbie doesn’t need Ken to be happy. I imagine that maybe, a girl passing through the store read that poem and saw a glimpse of herself inside. That spark of recognition – of I’m not the only one – is all I wanted as a child. I was able to find my happiness and my community, and I want every LGBTQ+ child to be able to do the same. 


Joanna Hoffman was born and raised in Silver Spring, Md. She is the author of the poetry collection ‘Running for Trap Doors’ (Sibling Rivalry Press) and is the communications director for LPAC, the nation’s only organization dedicated to advancing the political representation of LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary candidates. 

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A boy-meets-boy, family-mess story with heat

New book offers a stunning, satisfying love story

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(Book cover image courtesy of Random House)

‘When the Harvest Comes’
By Denne Michele Norris
c.2025, Random House
$28/304 pages

Happy is the bride the sun shines on.

Of all the clichés that exist about weddings, that’s the one that seems to make you smile the most. Just invoking good weather and bright sunshine feels like a cosmic blessing on the newlyweds and their future. It’s a happy omen for bride and groom or, as in the new book “When the Harvest Comes” by Denne Michele Norris, for groom and groom.

Davis Freeman never thought he could love or be loved like this.

He was wildly, wholeheartedly, mind-and-soul smitten with Everett Caldwell, and life was everything that Davis ever wanted. He was a successful symphony musician in New York. They had an apartment they enjoyed and friends they cherished. Now it was their wedding day, a day Davis had planned with the man he adored, the details almost down to the stitches in their attire. He’d even purchased a gorgeous wedding gown that he’d never risk wearing.

He knew that Everett’s family loved him a lot, but Davis didn’t dare tickle the fates with a white dress on their big day. Everett’s dad, just like Davis’s own father, had considerable reservations about his son marrying another man – although Everett’s father seemed to have come to terms with his son’s bisexuality. Davis’s father, whom Davis called the Reverend, never would. Years ago, father and son had a falling-out that destroyed any chance of peace between Davis and his dad; in fact, the door slammed shut to any reconciliation.

But Davis tried not to think about that. Not on his wedding day. Not, unbeknownst to him, as the Reverend was rushing toward the wedding venue, uninvited but not unrepentant. Not when there was an accident and the Reverend was killed, miles away and during the nuptials.

Davis didn’t know that, of course, as he was marrying the love of his life. Neither did Everett, who had familial problems of his own, including homophobic family members who tried (but failed) to pretend otherwise.

Happy is the groom the sun shines on. But when the storm comes, it can be impossible to remain sunny.

What can be said about “When the Harvest Comes?” It’s a romance with a bit of ghost-pepper-like heat that’s not there for the mere sake of titillation. It’s filled with drama, intrigue, hate, characters you want to just slap, and some in bad need of a hug.

In short, this book is quite stunning.

Author Denne Michele Norris offers a love story that’s everything you want in this genre, including partners you genuinely want to get to know, in situations that are real. This is done by putting readers inside the characters’ minds, letting Davis and Everett themselves explain why they acted as they did, mistakes and all. Don’t be surprised if you have to read the last few pages twice to best enjoy how things end. You won’t be sorry.

If you want a complicated, boy-meets-boy, family-mess kind of book with occasional heat, “When the Harvest Comes” is your book. Truly, this novel shines.

The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.

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Chronicling disastrous effects of ‘conversion therapy’

New book uncovers horror, unexpected humor of discredited practice

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(Book cover image courtesy of Jessica Kingsley Publishers)

‘Shame-Sex Attraction: Survivors’ Stories of Conversion Therapy’
By Lucas F. W. Wilson
c.2025, Jessica Kingsley Publishers
$21.95/190 pages

You’re a few months in, and it hasn’t gotten any easier.

You made your New Year’s resolutions with forethought, purpose, and determination but after all this time, you still struggle, ugh. You’ve backslid. You’ve cheated because change is hard. It’s sometimes impossible. And in the new book, “Shame-Sex Attraction” by Lucas F. W. Wilson, it can be exceptionally traumatic.

Progress does not come without problems.

While it’s true that the LGBTQ community has been adversely affected by the current administration, there are still things to be happy about when it comes to civil rights and acceptance. Still, says Wilson, one “particularly slow-moving aspect… has been the fight against what is widely known as conversion therapy.”

Such practices, he says, “have numerous damaging, death-dealing, and no doubt disastrous consequences.” The stories he’s collected in this volume reflect that, but they also mirror confidence and strength in the face of detrimental treatment.

Writer Gregory Elsasser-Chavez was told to breathe in something repellent every time he thought about other men. He says, in the end, he decided not to “pray away the gay.” Instead, he quips, he’d “sniff it away.”

D. Apple became her “own conversation therapist” by exhausting herself with service to others as therapy. Peter Nunn’s father took him on a surprise trip, but the surprise was a conversion facility; Nunn’s father said if it didn’t work, he’d “get rid of” his 15-year-old son. Chaim Levin was forced to humiliate himself as part of his therapy.

Lexie Bean struggled to make a therapist understand that they didn’t want to be a man because they were “both.” Jordan Sullivan writes of the years it takes “to re-integrate and become whole” after conversion therapy. Chris Csabs writes that he “tried everything to find the root of my problem” but “nothing so far had worked.”

Says Syre Klenke of a group conversion session, “My heart shattered over and over as people tried to console and encourage each other…. I wonder if each of them is okay and still with us today.”

Here’s a bit of advice for reading “Shame-Sex Attraction”: dip into the first chapter, maybe the second, then go back and read the foreword and introduction, and resume.

The reason: author Lucas F. W. Wilson’s intro is deep and steep, full of footnotes and statistics, and if you’re not prepared or you didn’t come for the education, it might scare you away. No, the subtitle of this book is likely why you’d pick the book up so because that’s what you really wanted, indulge before backtracking.

You won’t be sorry; the first stories are bracing and they’ll steel you for the rest, for the emotion and the tears, the horror and the unexpected humor.

Be aware that there are triggers all over this book, especially if you’ve been subjected to anything like conversion therapy yourself. Remember, though, that the survivors are just that: survivors, and their strength is what makes this book worthwhile. Even so, though “Shame-Sex Attraction” is an essential read, that doesn’t make it any easier.

The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.

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