SUMMARY: New York 1915, Marion Davies is a shy eighteen-year-old beauty dancing on the Broadway stage when she meets William Randolph Hearst and finds herself captivated by his riches, passion and desire to make her a movie star. Marion learns through trial and error to live as Hearst’s mistress when a divorce from his wife proves impossible. A baby girl is born in secret in 1919 and they agree to never acknowledge her publicly as their own. In a burgeoning Hollywood scene, she works hard making movies while living a lavish partying life that includes a secret love affair with Charlie Chaplin. In late 1937, at the height of the depression, Hearst wrestles with his debtors and failing health, when Marion loans him $1M when nobody else will. Together, they must confront the movie that threatens to invalidate all of Marion’s successes in the movie industry: Citizen Kane.
Review
The Blue Butterfly is what Charlie Chaplin called Marion Davies, of which they had a long affair, supposedly unbeknownst to William Randolph Hearst. This is a story about Marion Davies and her lifelong affair with Mr. Hearst until his death in 1951.
Marion started out in 1915 as a showgirl with the Ziegfield Follies. Marion meets William Randolph Hearst at one of the shows, the wealthy owner of numerous newspapers. They started a lifelong affair, he kept promising that he would divorce his wife Millicent, but she would not divorce him, thus the affair.
Hearst and Davies go through many tumultuous years together where he dotes on her and lavishes her with gifts, houses, etc. Marion's career takes off from doing silent pictures to talkies. She had a comedic flair which made her successful. Hearst was very controlling when it came to her career—only wanting her to do historical-type roles.
He also built numerous houses for her, including The Ocean House and The Hearst Castle in San Simeon California, a castle in Wales, and St.Donat's Castle. They also had Wyntoon which originally was his mother's estate. He also supported Marion's sisters and parents. Marion became pregnant with Hearst's child, Patricia, but had her raised by Marion's sister Rose. Rose was not able to care for her so she eventually ended up living with Marion. They eventually acknowledged that they were parents to Patricia.
Numerous scandals plagued the couple, including the death of Thomas Ince, plus her own pregnancy. The movie Citizen Kane by Orsen Welles portrayed Susan Alexander Kane, based on Marion as a lackluster actress. Orsen later apologized for the negativity but it ruined acting for her. At the age of 40, Marion unhappy with the roles she played, decided to retire from acting.
Hearst ended up in debt to the banks and he avoided bankruptcy with the help of Marion's gift of several million dollars but the company was still in a trust, the company flourished again during WWII. His health started to fail and he died in 1951. Marion ended up marrying again, unhappily and died in 1961 from cancer and alcoholism.
I really enjoyed the story immensely, the rich are not always happy as we think they are. I found Marion to be a woman who was dependent on Hearst, although she claimed that she wanted her independence, she still was dependent on Hearst. Despite their age difference they were devoted to each other but they both had dalliances with other people. I found the whole story fascinating, especially reading about Hearst's wealth and all the properties that they had.
Written with great knowledge and research, this is a story that will stay with me for a while.
I received a copy of the book for review purposes only.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Leslie Johansen Nack’s debut, Fourteen, received five indie awards, including the 2016 Finalist in Memoir at the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Before she started writing, she raised two children, ran a mechanical engineering business with her husband, took care of her aging mother, and dreamed of retirement when she could write full-time. She did everything late in life, including getting her degree in English Literature from UCLA at age thirty-one, only two years after she married for the second time. If you want to know when her next book is coming out, please visit her website www.lesliejohansennack.com and sign up to receive an email when she has her next release. She lives in sunny San Diego and enjoys sailing, hiking and reading.
EARLY PRAISE:
"The Blue Butterfly is a vibrant period novel that reimagines the controversial love story of a classic film star.”—Foreword Reviews
“In The Blue Butterfly, Leslie Johansen
“Leslie Johansen Nack redeems the tragic legacy of Marion Davies, William Randolph Hearst's long-time lover, in her newest, The Blue Butterfly. Dripping with diamonds and gilded with grandeur, The Blue Butterfly takes readers from the bowels of the New York stage to the glittering life of Hollywood and its stars. Haunting and heartbreaking, The Blue Butterfly elicits the gut-punch that what we do for love colors our lives forever.” —Ashley E. Sweeney, author of the award-winning Answer Creek
“The Blue Butterfly is an unfiltered, first-person narrative told in glittering detail. It is the almost mythic story of a glowing, spirited woman who is captured and showered with riches beyond imagining—a butterfly in a gilded cage. In this very fast-paced book, which spares no detail in the telling, we see how dearly Marion Davies paid for her willing captivity.” —Laurel Davis Huber, author of the award-winning The Velveteen Daughter
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