Marlene was an intriguing person in real life even though I have/had limited knowledge about her as a person. Especially with this one, I felt like Marlene wrote this herself. He finds a way to not only showcase his writing style, but a way to share the unique voice of his characters. I adore his writing! He really knows how to bring a person to life. This isn't my first novel that I've read by this author.

This was certainly addicting! I seriously could not put this down.I could not read fast enough! Marlene was an interesting character in both the novel and real life. Escorted by General George Patton himself, Marlene is heartbroken by the war’s devastation and the evil legacy of the Third Reich that has transformed her homeland and the family she loved. Marlene instead chooses to become an American citizen, and after her new nation is forced into World War II, tours with the USO, performing for thousands of Allied troops in Europe and Africa.īut one day she will return to Germany. Desperate for her return, Hitler tries to lure her with dazzling promises. Rivaling the success of another European import, Greta Garbo, Marlene quickly becomes one of Hollywood’s leading ladies, starring with legends such as Gary Cooper, John Wayne, and Cary Grant. As Hitler and the Nazis rise to power, she sets sail for America. With her sultry beauty, smoky voice, seductive silk cocktail dresses, and androgynous tailored suits, Marlene performs to packed houses, and becomes entangled in a series of stormy love affairs that push the boundaries of social convention.įor the beautiful, desirous Lili Marlene, neither fame nor marriage and motherhood can cure her wanderlust. When a budding career as a violinist is cut short, the willful teenager vows to become a singer, trading her family’s proper, middle class society for the free-spirited, louche world of Weimar Berlin’s cabarets and drag balls.

Raised in genteel poverty after the first World War, Maria Magdalena Dietrich dreams of a life on the stage.

Marlene by C.W. Gortner