Author: Susan Braudy
Genre: Biography
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1992
Pages: 480
Rating: Highly Recommend
Synopsis: In 1955, Anne Woodward shot her husband, Billy, in their Oyster Bay, Long Island, home. While she was cleared by a grand jury, which believed her story that she had mistaken Billy for a prowler who had recently breaking into neighboring houses. New York society was convinced that she had deliberately murdered Billy and that her formidable mother-in-law, Elsie Woodward, had covered up the crime to prevent further scandal to the socially prominant family. The incident became fiction in Truman Capote's malicious 1975 Esquire story, leading to Ann's suicide, and later was the subject of Dominick Dunne's The Two Mrs. Grenville's. Now, after years of research, Braudy reveals the truth behind the legend. Tracing Ann's life from her difficult Kansas childhood through her early years as a model and aspiring actress to her stormy exile after his death. Braudy shows how Ann, a victim of cruel gossip and class snobbery, could not have deliberately killed Billy.
Review: I recently watched a quick 10-15 minute blurb on Ann Woodward's dress on an episode of Mysteries at the Museum (which originally aired February 21, 2013). The little bit the show shared was compelling so I went in search of a biography.
A Crazy Thing Called Love reads more like a family saga than a traditional biography. The story of Billy and Ann Woodward begins with each of their grandparents, and ends with Elsie Woodward's death in 1981. One of my favorite aspects of this book was the historical context of their lives, The Gilded Age, The Great Depression, World War II and beyond. It's a comprehensive read, and I surprised myself by not wanting to put it down.
