Maria Callas - by Anne Edwards (Paperback)

About the Book

Originally published: New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001.

Book Synopsis

From the New York Times bestselling biographer Anne Edwards comes the irresistible true story of the lives and loves of the great opera diva, Maria Callas.

Maria Callas continues to mesmerize us decades after her death, not only because she was indisputably the greatest opera diva of the 20th century, but also because both her life and death were shrouded in a Machiavellian web of scandal, mystery and deception. Now Anne Edwards, well known for her revealing and insightful biographies of some of the world's most noted women, tells the intimate story of Maria Callas--her loves, her life, and her music, revealing the true woman behind the headlines, gossip and speculation.

The second daughter of Greek immigrant parents, Maria found herself in the grasp of an overwhelmingly ambitious mother who took her away from her native New York and the father she loved, to a Greece on the eve of the Second World War. From there, we learn of the hardships, loves and triumphs Maria experienced in her professional and personal life. We are introduced to the men who marked Callas forever--Luchino Visconti, the brilliant homosexual director who she loved hopelessly, Giovanni Battista Meneghini, the husband thirty years her senior who used her for his own ambitions, as had her mother, and Aristotle Onassis, who put an end to their historic love affair by discarding her for the widowed Jacqueline Kennedy. Throughout her life, Callas waged a constant battle with her weight, a battle she eventually won, transforming herself from an ugly duckling into the slim and glamorous diva who transformed opera forever, whose recordings are legend, and whose life is the stuff of which tabloids are made.

Anne Edwards goes deeper than previous biographies of Maria Callas have dared. She draws upon intensive research to refute the story of Callas's "mystery child" by Onassis, and she reveals the true circumstances of the years preceding Callas's death, including the deception perpetrated by her close and trusted friend. As in her portraits of other brilliant, star-crossed women, Edwards brings Maria Callas--the intimate Callas--alive.

From the Back Cover

"Even those with little interest in opera or celebrity will be swept into this tale.... Edwards's riveting book is sure to prompt new interest in Callas's dramatic life." ---Publishers Weekly

"[Callas's] tumultuous life could be the subject of an opera, and Edwards negotiates it with the skill and ease of a seasoned conductor."---Booklist

Maria Callas, the prima donna who continues to mesmerize the world twenty-five years after her death, was born to Greek immigrant parents in New York City in 1923. Callas was a classic ugly duckling who struggled for years before transforming herself into a glamorous, almost mythical opera star.

From her early days as a poor, overweight singer with an undeniable yet uneven singing talent, to her physical and emotional breakdowns, and her passionate love affair with Aristotle Onassis, who would discard her for the widowed Jacqueline Kennedy---Anne Edwards brings readers a revealing portrait of the hardships, loves, and triumphs of Maria Callas.

Anne Edwards, who has been hailed as "the queen of biography" by Kirkus Reviews, is the author of many bestselling biographies, including Katharine Hepburn: A Remarkable Woman and Ever After: Diana and the Life She Led. She currently lives in Beverly Hills, California.

About the Author

Anne Edwards (1927 -2024) was the author of many biographies including the New York Times bestseller that became a classic in the field: Vivien Leigh: A Biography. Other acclaimed titles include Early Reagan: The Rise to Power; Matriarch: Queen Mary and the House of Windsor; and Katharine Hepburn: A Biography. Edwards was a former president of the Authors Guild and a sought-after speaker. She and her late husband, musical theater historian Stephen Citron, lived in Beverly Hills, California.