What do you think?
Rate this book
The Sewing Circle: Hollywood's Greatest Secret—Female Stars Who Loved Other Women
Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, and Barbara Stanwyck—to name a few—maintained their images as glamorous big-screen sex symbols complete with dashing escorts, handsome husbands, and scores of male admirers, thanks to studio publicity departments. But off the set, all three box office divas were involved in “lavender” marriages (marriages of convenience, often to gay men) or remained stoically single. They, and several other Hollywood starlets of the era, were members of a discreet women’s “club” called the Sewing Circle, Hollywood’s underground lesbian society. Madsen takes a candid look at the very complicated dual lives these great stars led and the impact their preference for same-sex relationships had on their movie careers.
267 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1995
72 people are currently reading
1094 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
June 1, 2007
I don't know why people cite **this** book as THE one that outs Judy Garland, Barbara Stanwyck, Crawford, Kate Hepburn and a host of other Hollywood actresses as lesbians or bisexual. The reporting is flimsy, without foundation (no actual observations by anyone just speculation based on what? Okay Stanwyck shared a hotel room with her female manager once when a hotel was full. . yeah okay THAT makes her gay). The chapters on Stanwyck and Garland are filled with fluff about other stuff. I'm not adverse to the idea of any person being one way or another, I just hate shoddy journalism--I remember reading Madsen's bio of Stanwyck years ago where his sources were the National Enquirer! ugh!
The recent bios on Hepburn (by Mann and Lessing) set much higher standards with factual details, specific accounts by people who are named and several consistent observations by lifelong friends/acquaintances, not unnamed, paid hangerons or dreamt up observations made whilst typing.
The recent bios on Hepburn (by Mann and Lessing) set much higher standards with factual details, specific accounts by people who are named and several consistent observations by lifelong friends/acquaintances, not unnamed, paid hangerons or dreamt up observations made whilst typing.
August 12, 2018
This was some of the poorest writing I have ever read. I didn’t object to the gossip rag quality of the information. I had issues with the lack of cohesiveness. Quite often a sentence would pop up in the middle of a paragraph that had no relationship to the content of the paragraph...it drove me a little nuts. I feel as if no editor ever read this book before publication. I love reading about film history and while I enjoyed learning more about the private lives of some of my favorite actresses, the poor quality of the writing would prevent me from recommending this book to anyone. I’m certain there must be more well written books on this subject.
June 14, 2024
What you always wanted to know about Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Katherine Hepburn and many more …
The author went to great lengths and it took him more than three decades to compile each and every little fact for his documentary on lesbians during the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood. With the result that this narrative nonfiction book reads like a novel – sometimes like a romance, sometimes also like a crime thriller, particularly when the almost unlimited power that the film studios used to have over their actors and actresses at that time is addressed again.
It’s creepy to read today that they wrote down actresses’ menstrual cylces, drugged people if they considered it necessary and told their actors and actresses how to behave, what to wear, what to say in interviews and even whom to marry if the fact that they might not be purely heterosexual was to be disguised.
The book provides interesting insights into the (mostly) closeted private lives of Tinseltown’s famous, but mostly discreet sapphic and bisexual women, and also into the whole film industry as a whole in the first half of the twentieth century, complete with quotations and anecdotes. It’s funny and sad, shocking and touching, and always fascinating.
4.5 stars.
The author went to great lengths and it took him more than three decades to compile each and every little fact for his documentary on lesbians during the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood. With the result that this narrative nonfiction book reads like a novel – sometimes like a romance, sometimes also like a crime thriller, particularly when the almost unlimited power that the film studios used to have over their actors and actresses at that time is addressed again.
It’s creepy to read today that they wrote down actresses’ menstrual cylces, drugged people if they considered it necessary and told their actors and actresses how to behave, what to wear, what to say in interviews and even whom to marry if the fact that they might not be purely heterosexual was to be disguised.
The book provides interesting insights into the (mostly) closeted private lives of Tinseltown’s famous, but mostly discreet sapphic and bisexual women, and also into the whole film industry as a whole in the first half of the twentieth century, complete with quotations and anecdotes. It’s funny and sad, shocking and touching, and always fascinating.
4.5 stars.
November 27, 2007
Terrible book - apparently it's entertaining to label actresses as lesbians (not that being gay is a bad thing, but come on) based on ridiculously flimsy evidence and innuendo. Stupid waste of time and paper.
September 18, 2017
Women who loved women during 20s/30s Hollywood.
This is a highly readable book, and the author has way with words when she describes feminists of 1920s Hollywood who were redefining sexuality and relationships. This work is based on earlier publications about Hollywood lesbians, and many paragraphs and sentences look awfully similar to “The Girls: Sappho Goes to Hollywood” by Diana McLellan, which was published in 2013. It appears that this book may have been a source for many stories described by Ms. McLellan. For a quick read, I would recommend this book over McLellan’s, because the latter runs to about 506 pages!
Some of the most interesting stories is probably about the ravishing ladies of golden era; Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich and Tallulah Bankhead. They were all bisexuals but had strong leanings towards women. The greatest "conqueror" of sewing circle was probably poet and playwright Mercedes De Acosta who had numerous gorgeous ladies in her count, from Europe to California. Her affairs with some of the well-known ladies like; Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Alla Nazimova, Eva Le Gallienne, Ona Munson, Natacha Rambova, Lilyan Tashman and many more “good-time Charlene(s).” Sexuality was another role for many women, and for vanity and fear of discovery some of them had lavender marriages with gay men so that they could form secret alliances. Women like Tallulah Bankhead and Patsy Kelly made no secrets of their Sapphic tendencies; in fact Bankhead was very vocal about her gender orientation. Isadora Duncan is another bisexual and a longtime lover of Mercedes de Acosta who openly expressed her joy in lesbian relationship. She wrote sensual lesbian poems about Mercedes before her untimely death in Paris in an auto accident at the age of 50. Once she waved a red scarf and bared her breast on stage in Boston, proclaiming, "This is red! So am I.” Alla Nazimova was famous for organizing gay orgies at the famous “Garden of Allah,” a high-priced apartment complex on Sunset strip in Los Angeles. She threw caution to the wind and spent her fortune lavishly to produce her movie, “Salome” that featured an all gay cast.
Diana Wynyard, one of the first English ladies to become a member of the sewing circle, enjoyed the warmth of ladies hugs in sunny California. There were rumors that Barbara Stanwyck tried to seduce her future rival, Bette Davis when they were filming Edna Ferber’s 1932 movie “So Big.” Tallulah Bankhead’s wild flossy beauty attracted some of the most interesting lesbians of 1920s that included Katharine Cornell, Laurette Taylor, Sybil Thorndike, Beatrice Lillie, and Harlem’s Gladys Bentley, a three pound black Mae West, to put it mildly, donned in tuxedo and known to have married a woman in New Jersey in a civil ceremony in 1920s!
Libby Holman is another lady who had passionate affairs with Du Pont heiress Louisa Carpenter and later married tobacco heir Zachary Smith Reynolds. Holman was charged with murder when her husband was found shot, but later the charges were dropped. She established a foundation for civil rights movement to the memory of her deceased son. Dr. Martin Luther King was the first to receive the grants to travel to India to study Mahatma Gandhi’s path of non-violence and civil disobedience.
Paramount’s costume designer Edith Head and her gay husband Fox director Wiard “Bill” Ihnen pursued their homo sexuality for decades. Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck had failed marriages and gave them time to seek comfort in the tender arms of gorgeous females. Sexless Linda and Cole Porter apparently helped his career and the couple’s homosexuality. Jill Esmond struggled to accept her lesbian orientation, but remained married to actor Lawrence Olivier for years. Their marriage was newer consummated. Katherine Hepburn, Janet Gaynor, Lili Damita, and Agnes Moorhead were daisy chains of deceit. Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester; Vincente Minnelli and Judy Garland were also lavender couples. Alla Nazimova's marriage with actor Charles Bryant; Mercedes De Acosta with Abram Poole; Lilyan Tashman with Edmond Lowe, and Rudolph Valentino with Jean Acker and later with Natacha Rambova are well-known examples of lavender marriages. The book is filled with lot of interesting stories, and I recommend to anyone interested in the history of Hollywood and the movies (and theater) of golden era.
This is a highly readable book, and the author has way with words when she describes feminists of 1920s Hollywood who were redefining sexuality and relationships. This work is based on earlier publications about Hollywood lesbians, and many paragraphs and sentences look awfully similar to “The Girls: Sappho Goes to Hollywood” by Diana McLellan, which was published in 2013. It appears that this book may have been a source for many stories described by Ms. McLellan. For a quick read, I would recommend this book over McLellan’s, because the latter runs to about 506 pages!
Some of the most interesting stories is probably about the ravishing ladies of golden era; Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich and Tallulah Bankhead. They were all bisexuals but had strong leanings towards women. The greatest "conqueror" of sewing circle was probably poet and playwright Mercedes De Acosta who had numerous gorgeous ladies in her count, from Europe to California. Her affairs with some of the well-known ladies like; Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Alla Nazimova, Eva Le Gallienne, Ona Munson, Natacha Rambova, Lilyan Tashman and many more “good-time Charlene(s).” Sexuality was another role for many women, and for vanity and fear of discovery some of them had lavender marriages with gay men so that they could form secret alliances. Women like Tallulah Bankhead and Patsy Kelly made no secrets of their Sapphic tendencies; in fact Bankhead was very vocal about her gender orientation. Isadora Duncan is another bisexual and a longtime lover of Mercedes de Acosta who openly expressed her joy in lesbian relationship. She wrote sensual lesbian poems about Mercedes before her untimely death in Paris in an auto accident at the age of 50. Once she waved a red scarf and bared her breast on stage in Boston, proclaiming, "This is red! So am I.” Alla Nazimova was famous for organizing gay orgies at the famous “Garden of Allah,” a high-priced apartment complex on Sunset strip in Los Angeles. She threw caution to the wind and spent her fortune lavishly to produce her movie, “Salome” that featured an all gay cast.
Diana Wynyard, one of the first English ladies to become a member of the sewing circle, enjoyed the warmth of ladies hugs in sunny California. There were rumors that Barbara Stanwyck tried to seduce her future rival, Bette Davis when they were filming Edna Ferber’s 1932 movie “So Big.” Tallulah Bankhead’s wild flossy beauty attracted some of the most interesting lesbians of 1920s that included Katharine Cornell, Laurette Taylor, Sybil Thorndike, Beatrice Lillie, and Harlem’s Gladys Bentley, a three pound black Mae West, to put it mildly, donned in tuxedo and known to have married a woman in New Jersey in a civil ceremony in 1920s!
Libby Holman is another lady who had passionate affairs with Du Pont heiress Louisa Carpenter and later married tobacco heir Zachary Smith Reynolds. Holman was charged with murder when her husband was found shot, but later the charges were dropped. She established a foundation for civil rights movement to the memory of her deceased son. Dr. Martin Luther King was the first to receive the grants to travel to India to study Mahatma Gandhi’s path of non-violence and civil disobedience.
Paramount’s costume designer Edith Head and her gay husband Fox director Wiard “Bill” Ihnen pursued their homo sexuality for decades. Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck had failed marriages and gave them time to seek comfort in the tender arms of gorgeous females. Sexless Linda and Cole Porter apparently helped his career and the couple’s homosexuality. Jill Esmond struggled to accept her lesbian orientation, but remained married to actor Lawrence Olivier for years. Their marriage was newer consummated. Katherine Hepburn, Janet Gaynor, Lili Damita, and Agnes Moorhead were daisy chains of deceit. Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester; Vincente Minnelli and Judy Garland were also lavender couples. Alla Nazimova's marriage with actor Charles Bryant; Mercedes De Acosta with Abram Poole; Lilyan Tashman with Edmond Lowe, and Rudolph Valentino with Jean Acker and later with Natacha Rambova are well-known examples of lavender marriages. The book is filled with lot of interesting stories, and I recommend to anyone interested in the history of Hollywood and the movies (and theater) of golden era.
April 12, 2011
While I love the glamor, privilege, and intrigue of old Hollywood, this book didn't quite do it for me. I understand that, due to the nature of these relationships, there wouldn't be a huge record, but there has to be more evidence than what Madsen provided. Where are the sources? I thought a book like this would be chock-full of research on interviews (even if they were told second-hand), correspondence, and interesting footers, but there was none of that. And if there weren't any sources, address why that might be. Don't just gather a bunch of rumors and call it fact.
Also, the writing style was kind of bland. This is a fascinating topic- decadent lifestyles of the rich and famous who could and did eschew American moral tradition- but the book doesn't do it justice.
Also, the writing style was kind of bland. This is a fascinating topic- decadent lifestyles of the rich and famous who could and did eschew American moral tradition- but the book doesn't do it justice.
August 13, 2022
I was not impressed with the writing or the secrets. There are no exceptional tales to be found inside. Many of the women mentioned were known to be lesbians long before the book revealed them. 1 star
June 1, 2024
I bought it in clearance, and I found this book a waste of my money. This is an awful book, it's only a gossip column with no evidence. This book tries to trash Hollywood stars who are dead and can't defends themselves. A waste of my time and I didn't want to finish it. Terrible and who cares who's lesbian. Shameful book.
February 25, 2018
If you are interested in Hollywood lesbians of the 20ies and 30ies, The Sewing Circle is a fabulous wealth of information. There’s a strong resemblance with The Girls: Sappho Goes to Hollywood by Diana McLellan but as that was published in 2013, it appears that she took a very ‘close look’ at The Sewing Circle for her source material. Her book is a whopping 506 pages though.
A lot of famous names (and their stories) are in here: Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Tallulah Bankhead, Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck, Mercedes De Acosta, Alla Nazimova, Eva Le Gallienne, Natacha Rambova and many, many more. I recommend it to anyone interested in the history of Hollywood and the movies (and theater) of golden era.
Themes: so many lesbians and gays in the movie industry, this book gives your brain a bit of a work-out, so many names to keep track off, I just love Tallulah Bankhead, and found out I didn't really care much for Garbo after getting to know her better.
4 stars
A lot of famous names (and their stories) are in here: Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Tallulah Bankhead, Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck, Mercedes De Acosta, Alla Nazimova, Eva Le Gallienne, Natacha Rambova and many, many more. I recommend it to anyone interested in the history of Hollywood and the movies (and theater) of golden era.
Themes: so many lesbians and gays in the movie industry, this book gives your brain a bit of a work-out, so many names to keep track off, I just love Tallulah Bankhead, and found out I didn't really care much for Garbo after getting to know her better.
4 stars
March 1, 2023
3.5/5
Overall I really liked this one. Because it’s nonfiction, it’s the most accurate depiction of what it was like to be a queer woman in Hollywood.
I thought each of the stories told were really good and it was interesting to see (as well as tragic to see) how many sacrifices many of these women had to make to protect themselves from being outted as queer for fear of retribution, as well as the ways that moviemakers tried to circumvent the Hayes Code and modern sensibilities by slipping queer references and innuendos in.
However, I have many formatting issues with this book. Similar to how I felt about Color of Law (there is a review up on Goodreads from me for that), I felt as though the organization of this book didn’t really make sense. There wasn’t as much re-explaining as there was in Color of Law, but this book still felt hard to follow at times. I think what didn’t help was because it was mostly organized by actress (though that isn’t always true either) that it required skipping around from 1925 to 1940 and then back again and it was just confusing to follow, often because the year changes would be subtle.
I said this with Color of Law and I’ll say it here, but I think that this book would be better if told chronologically. Like, for instance, maybe it could be broken into sections by decade so we would know when we were focusing on actresses mainly famous in the 1920s, then 1930s, etc. I think that would alleviate many of the issues and I also think that it would make it easier to recover from a time skip, as well as easier to embed social context. (Also, separating each chapter by actress would be helpful— often some actresses would only get a few paragraphs before we would jump back into the “main” story we were following that chapter which also felt clunky and hard to follow.)
However, having said all that, I think content wise this book was really good. I liked how it addressed the nuances of each of these moviemakers’s lives, and all of the fun stories about how each of them acted and how they would seduce their lovers were really interesting and gave me great insight as to who these women really were.
I just think this book would be even better if the formatting was better.
Overall I really liked this one. Because it’s nonfiction, it’s the most accurate depiction of what it was like to be a queer woman in Hollywood.
I thought each of the stories told were really good and it was interesting to see (as well as tragic to see) how many sacrifices many of these women had to make to protect themselves from being outted as queer for fear of retribution, as well as the ways that moviemakers tried to circumvent the Hayes Code and modern sensibilities by slipping queer references and innuendos in.
However, I have many formatting issues with this book. Similar to how I felt about Color of Law (there is a review up on Goodreads from me for that), I felt as though the organization of this book didn’t really make sense. There wasn’t as much re-explaining as there was in Color of Law, but this book still felt hard to follow at times. I think what didn’t help was because it was mostly organized by actress (though that isn’t always true either) that it required skipping around from 1925 to 1940 and then back again and it was just confusing to follow, often because the year changes would be subtle.
I said this with Color of Law and I’ll say it here, but I think that this book would be better if told chronologically. Like, for instance, maybe it could be broken into sections by decade so we would know when we were focusing on actresses mainly famous in the 1920s, then 1930s, etc. I think that would alleviate many of the issues and I also think that it would make it easier to recover from a time skip, as well as easier to embed social context. (Also, separating each chapter by actress would be helpful— often some actresses would only get a few paragraphs before we would jump back into the “main” story we were following that chapter which also felt clunky and hard to follow.)
However, having said all that, I think content wise this book was really good. I liked how it addressed the nuances of each of these moviemakers’s lives, and all of the fun stories about how each of them acted and how they would seduce their lovers were really interesting and gave me great insight as to who these women really were.
I just think this book would be even better if the formatting was better.
March 8, 2018
Linking the hidden (or in some cases not so hidden) world of lesbians in the golden age of Hollywood, with a history of Hollywood, and a socialogical/psycholigical look at the time period, is no small task, but is handled deftly by Axel Madsen. This great history reads easily, includes great anecdotes as well as well researched history. A great read for anyone interested in LGBTQI and/or Hollywood history.
October 27, 2019
Spoilers for old Hollywood below! Don't say I didn't warn you!
The main issue with this book is that it's 24 years old now. We all know now that Garbo was a lesbian and Dietrich was bi and Joan Crawford would bang anything and anyone that would get her famous and that the famed Hepburn-Tracy romance was a lesbian and a repressed gay man affectionately using each other as beards. None of this is as thrilling and titillating as it was in the 90s, and there are also no happy endings.
The main issue with this book is that it's 24 years old now. We all know now that Garbo was a lesbian and Dietrich was bi and Joan Crawford would bang anything and anyone that would get her famous and that the famed Hepburn-Tracy romance was a lesbian and a repressed gay man affectionately using each other as beards. None of this is as thrilling and titillating as it was in the 90s, and there are also no happy endings.
May 27, 2012
I liked the idea, but the editing was terrible ("Greta" was spelled "Great" as the first word of chapter 3) and the writing style sounded like a gossip column. Too much name-dropping, unsupported allegations, and slang. I didn't finish it.
May 6, 2013
I'm officially proclaiming this one unreadable and moving on. Got to page 154 of 216. I love a good name drop as much as the next pretentious twit, but this book dispenses with all else, including paragraph transitions and grammatically sensical sentence construction.
May 4, 2020
Pretty dull and uninteresting. Lots of dubious facts which made it a tiresome and "sus" read. I was interested in the subject but in the end I shrugged it off with a "who cares?"
Very disappointing book from Axel Madsen who wrote an excellent William Wyler biography in 1973.
Very disappointing book from Axel Madsen who wrote an excellent William Wyler biography in 1973.
October 20, 2019
Felt like fiction and speculation dressed up as fact. Not only that, it felt a little intrusive as I read, but might just be me? Take it all with a grain of salt, that much was clear. Overall not satisfied, but it wasn’t a complete wreak either, just something I wouldn’t recommend.
August 26, 2008
This book is like if there had been celebrity gossip blogs in the 1930s and 1940s.
June 24, 2021
if u are also suffering from lack of gossip rn this is the perfect book. lots of salacious gossip about who slept with who in old hollywood, it's so great
April 18, 2022
I really wanted to like this book.
I was wondering why I didn’t and I think it’s because you can tell that a man wrote it.
I was wondering why I didn’t and I think it’s because you can tell that a man wrote it.
October 3, 2020
This book is a product of it's time for sure, but besides the issues with the mainly gossip based stories, I think the real issue is the poor writing.
The author jumps from decade to decade, person to person, and if just listing as many names as possible in one paragraph was an Olympic sport, they would take gold.
If you have an encyclopedic knowledge of golden age Hollywood, maybe it will be less of a slog, but I found it way to clunky to enjoy half the time.
The writer does well by creating compelling introductions and conclusions to each chapter, but fails to weave them together satisfactorily. And the point tends to get lost halfway through anyway.
I did enjoy the poignant concluding chapter. Though it did feel like a sudden switch in genre since half of that chapter was summarizing studies on gay men and lesbians in the 70s and 80s.
If anything, the book is a starting place for this subject (a clunky one, but a starting place nonetheless) and does source some interesting books I am going to check out. It introduced me to lesbians of yore I was not familiar as well.
The author jumps from decade to decade, person to person, and if just listing as many names as possible in one paragraph was an Olympic sport, they would take gold.
If you have an encyclopedic knowledge of golden age Hollywood, maybe it will be less of a slog, but I found it way to clunky to enjoy half the time.
The writer does well by creating compelling introductions and conclusions to each chapter, but fails to weave them together satisfactorily. And the point tends to get lost halfway through anyway.
I did enjoy the poignant concluding chapter. Though it did feel like a sudden switch in genre since half of that chapter was summarizing studies on gay men and lesbians in the 70s and 80s.
If anything, the book is a starting place for this subject (a clunky one, but a starting place nonetheless) and does source some interesting books I am going to check out. It introduced me to lesbians of yore I was not familiar as well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2016
This has to be taken with a grain of salt. Some of this is just plain nonsense.
Read
April 23, 2017Fun for its gossip value, and some great quotes, but poorly written and all over the place. I was disappointed.
March 1, 2015
Perfect companion book to The Celluloid Closet".
June 1, 2023
DNF
Any apprehensions you have about a man writing about lesbians and bisexual women are absolutely justified in this intentionally titillating, gossipy rag. The Sewing Circle is a fascinating subject of study, and if the author were someone competent and capable of organizing and conveying information, would be a great read.
THIS thing is so poorly compiled and edited that I was doing a running tally of every time I saw the word "was" mistyped as "as" and even saw that Greta Garbo's name was mispelled...in the chapter about her own childhood. An editor would've been greatly appreciated to reel and rein in Madsen's diatribes that go nowhere, constant name-dropping and then literally dropping the name after a single mention and no explanation to who they are. Not everyone reading your book knows the various Hollywood executives, producers, costume designers, and starlets of the 1920s. Instead of simply dropping a name and giving no anchor or context to who they are outside of the single sentence they're discussed, maybe add some context to who they are and why it matters you're mentioning them at all.
While I understand that many of these women were secretive and closeted about their true sexual orientation, and thus there's a LOT of secondhand evidence and hearsay/rumors involved, that doesn't mean it's a free pass to write like you're part of the Daily Enquirer. If I wanted to consume flimsy gossip about celebrities with dozens of grammatical errors and meaningless conjecture, I don't need to pay $30 for a hardcover--Twitter and internet forums exist for free.
I also want to stress how voyeuristic this author approaches the relationships of these women. If I were being fair, I'd say that Madsen is trying to approach the subject with the allure of the "secret lives" of these celebrities like the magazines and reporters and fans did in this era (and still do today, let's be honest). But if you're going to invade women's privacy and explore their deeply-held-secret sexual identity, I believe an author shouldn't treat it as a raunchy expose. Otherwise it just comes off as just as lacking in empathy and just as creepy as tabloid reporters and men who fantasize about the secret bedroom lives of lesbians and bisexual women in real life. Again, I don't need a nonfiction book to do that for me; I get that unsolicited uncomfortable and misogynist experience for free.
If anyone has recommendations for books about the Sewing Circle that are more factual and empathetic (and ideally, written by a sapphic woman), I'd definitely love to hear them because this is a very interesting subject of history for me and I want to learn more about it without rolling my eyes and spotting basic spelling errors every few minutes.
Any apprehensions you have about a man writing about lesbians and bisexual women are absolutely justified in this intentionally titillating, gossipy rag. The Sewing Circle is a fascinating subject of study, and if the author were someone competent and capable of organizing and conveying information, would be a great read.
THIS thing is so poorly compiled and edited that I was doing a running tally of every time I saw the word "was" mistyped as "as" and even saw that Greta Garbo's name was mispelled...in the chapter about her own childhood. An editor would've been greatly appreciated to reel and rein in Madsen's diatribes that go nowhere, constant name-dropping and then literally dropping the name after a single mention and no explanation to who they are. Not everyone reading your book knows the various Hollywood executives, producers, costume designers, and starlets of the 1920s. Instead of simply dropping a name and giving no anchor or context to who they are outside of the single sentence they're discussed, maybe add some context to who they are and why it matters you're mentioning them at all.
While I understand that many of these women were secretive and closeted about their true sexual orientation, and thus there's a LOT of secondhand evidence and hearsay/rumors involved, that doesn't mean it's a free pass to write like you're part of the Daily Enquirer. If I wanted to consume flimsy gossip about celebrities with dozens of grammatical errors and meaningless conjecture, I don't need to pay $30 for a hardcover--Twitter and internet forums exist for free.
I also want to stress how voyeuristic this author approaches the relationships of these women. If I were being fair, I'd say that Madsen is trying to approach the subject with the allure of the "secret lives" of these celebrities like the magazines and reporters and fans did in this era (and still do today, let's be honest). But if you're going to invade women's privacy and explore their deeply-held-secret sexual identity, I believe an author shouldn't treat it as a raunchy expose. Otherwise it just comes off as just as lacking in empathy and just as creepy as tabloid reporters and men who fantasize about the secret bedroom lives of lesbians and bisexual women in real life. Again, I don't need a nonfiction book to do that for me; I get that unsolicited uncomfortable and misogynist experience for free.
If anyone has recommendations for books about the Sewing Circle that are more factual and empathetic (and ideally, written by a sapphic woman), I'd definitely love to hear them because this is a very interesting subject of history for me and I want to learn more about it without rolling my eyes and spotting basic spelling errors every few minutes.
August 30, 2020
The Sewing Circle is a history of women who loved women in Golden Age Hollywood. I found it on a list of recs for lesbian history, and kept it on my want-to-read despite the very mixed reviews. "Sometimes, reviews and ratings are unnecessarily harsh on LGBT works!" I thought. "Especially if people got weird and defensive about their favorite Old Hollywood celebrities being linked with lesbianism!"
Unfortunately, my optimism was misplaced. The Sewing Circle is poorly edited, shallow, and gossipy. When I read the Notes section and saw the author's main interview sources, that made sense -- he heavily used gossip journalists. The book as a whole was unsatisfying to me -- I picked it up wanting an in-depth look at how closeting worked in the studio system, with the combined pressure of intense scrutiny and the way the studios protected their money-makers and did not get that. The Sewing Circle is not written by someone who thinks being gay is a crime, but it's written like a hit-piece of the era.
The editing is incredibly poor; there are frequent typos that change the meaning of sentences, and many sentences are borderline incoherent. It's a quick, shallow read, but the frequent errors slow it way down.
If you like kind of trashy, gossipy pieces, The Sewing Circle will be more enjoyable for you than it was for me. I was incredibly disappointed at the approach Madsen took to the subject and the execution of it. I do think it's possible to write a version of this book that would appeal to me -- since The Sewing Circle came out, so have several actresses (part of Madsen's reasoning for writing the book was stated to be about the fact that no actresses had come out as of the writing), and Garbo's letters have been opened (they were locked until 2000). Having Garbo's own words would lend weight to Madsen's conviction about her sexuality.
Unfortunately, my optimism was misplaced. The Sewing Circle is poorly edited, shallow, and gossipy. When I read the Notes section and saw the author's main interview sources, that made sense -- he heavily used gossip journalists. The book as a whole was unsatisfying to me -- I picked it up wanting an in-depth look at how closeting worked in the studio system, with the combined pressure of intense scrutiny and the way the studios protected their money-makers and did not get that. The Sewing Circle is not written by someone who thinks being gay is a crime, but it's written like a hit-piece of the era.
The editing is incredibly poor; there are frequent typos that change the meaning of sentences, and many sentences are borderline incoherent. It's a quick, shallow read, but the frequent errors slow it way down.
If you like kind of trashy, gossipy pieces, The Sewing Circle will be more enjoyable for you than it was for me. I was incredibly disappointed at the approach Madsen took to the subject and the execution of it. I do think it's possible to write a version of this book that would appeal to me -- since The Sewing Circle came out, so have several actresses (part of Madsen's reasoning for writing the book was stated to be about the fact that no actresses had come out as of the writing), and Garbo's letters have been opened (they were locked until 2000). Having Garbo's own words would lend weight to Madsen's conviction about her sexuality.
September 1, 2020
One thing I find very interesting about current Hollywood gossip is its fascination with female love-affairs as opposed to the male stars – but then when I was doing my own work I found myself constantly in the company of the female personage.
This may have something to do with the “female” personality—but then what do you do when you encounter a “masculine” such as Garbo or Dietrich?
I read & studied this book in connection w/ preparing for the publication of my own work—IMPROV: Character Voices of Old Hollywood—a series of Dramatic Monologues from the Golden age of Filmdom-- my work along the same lines, but personal & creative
I would suggest that anyone interested in the Sewing Circle or anything connected with the distaff side of the movie industry read this book to get a grounding in film history & proceed from there— indeed, the book is limited in its range. It begins with De Acosta & early Hollywood & goes not far from there.
Understand, I make no judgements on connection with the “other” side of Hollywood—I’m simply trying to understand & appreciate what made these wonderful people move & behave in the way they did.
I would also argue that it is time we take the wraps off so-called Lesbianism and “deviant behavior” & see it for what it is— another aspect of human activity. The Hollywood crowd were a lot of tremendously talented people and they left us a great legacy and a heap of entertaining works. Our curiosity of their private lives should not blind us to their worth as cultural icons.
This may have something to do with the “female” personality—but then what do you do when you encounter a “masculine” such as Garbo or Dietrich?
I read & studied this book in connection w/ preparing for the publication of my own work—IMPROV: Character Voices of Old Hollywood—a series of Dramatic Monologues from the Golden age of Filmdom-- my work along the same lines, but personal & creative
I would suggest that anyone interested in the Sewing Circle or anything connected with the distaff side of the movie industry read this book to get a grounding in film history & proceed from there— indeed, the book is limited in its range. It begins with De Acosta & early Hollywood & goes not far from there.
Understand, I make no judgements on connection with the “other” side of Hollywood—I’m simply trying to understand & appreciate what made these wonderful people move & behave in the way they did.
I would also argue that it is time we take the wraps off so-called Lesbianism and “deviant behavior” & see it for what it is— another aspect of human activity. The Hollywood crowd were a lot of tremendously talented people and they left us a great legacy and a heap of entertaining works. Our curiosity of their private lives should not blind us to their worth as cultural icons.
October 19, 2024
4 stars. Two things to know about me: I love old Hollywood and I love lesbian history. Combine the two and I'm a happy girl. I thought this was pretty good. The organization of the chapters and topics bounced around a lot and felt all over the place but the writing itself was good and engaging and made this a quick read for me. Yes, it was a lot of information on actresses that I've read about before (ie Bankhead, Garbo, Dietrich, Crawford, etc) but there were some tidbits that were new to me so that was fun.
I'd heard many times before that Barbara Stanwyck was at the least bisexual so the chapter on her wasn't surprising to me at all but baby JUDY GARLAND? Blew my hair back a bit not gonna lie. I've never heard any type of inkling that she dabbled with women so I'm not sure how much of this I believe. This book is literally the first time I'd heard it but please let me know if there's other sources that state this as well. I'm skeptical but intrigued.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this. Not my favorite but still a good read. If you enjoyed this I'd highly suggest The Girls: Sappho Goes to Hollywood by Diana McLellan. As of now that one is still my absolute favorite when it comes to the subject of old Hollywood sapphics.
I'd heard many times before that Barbara Stanwyck was at the least bisexual so the chapter on her wasn't surprising to me at all but baby JUDY GARLAND? Blew my hair back a bit not gonna lie. I've never heard any type of inkling that she dabbled with women so I'm not sure how much of this I believe. This book is literally the first time I'd heard it but please let me know if there's other sources that state this as well. I'm skeptical but intrigued.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this. Not my favorite but still a good read. If you enjoyed this I'd highly suggest The Girls: Sappho Goes to Hollywood by Diana McLellan. As of now that one is still my absolute favorite when it comes to the subject of old Hollywood sapphics.
June 1, 2021
This book is a mess - it goes backward and forward more often than a tennis match. It does not even proceed in chronological order. Where was the editor??? - Oh I forgot the editor was a computer so you have numerous errors such as a sentence that should have had the word "thought" which has instead the word "though". A computer editor only checks to see if a word is a word; it cannot read context!!!! Instead of the subtitle of "Female Stars How Loved Other Women" the replacement should be "Anyone vaguely connected with the film industry in the 1910's to the 1990's who loved anyone vaguely connected with the film industry or not." When it doubt throw in the name Mercedes de Acosta - she must have had a relationship with every lesbian in Europe and the United States... Or Sandy Dennis - how does she relate to "The Sewing Circle"?? How does Fatty Arbuckle's debacle related to the same?????? Only occasionally does book provide information that goes beyond "Hollywood Babylon" or the Inquirer. Very disappointing. Kristi & Abby Tabby
February 11, 2025
this book was a rather interesting exploration of “the sewing circle” or women who loved other women during the period of old hollywood films. you definitely have to know your basic level information about these actresses and some of their relationships before you could really enjoy this book. if not, it comes across as a bunch of names that you know nothing about. so, i highly recommend this for intermediate level fans of these women and old hollywood films/stars. the historical context the author provides gives it a lot of depth, and the story never feels terribly slow. if you're into books about this topic, then i think it’s worth your time. there were a decent amount of grammatical errors and will we ever know how accurate this is as a source for whether or not these women were gay? no, but his sources are reliable enough where i’d believe maybe 60% of what is being said in these chapters! i enjoyed it because i love this type of information and these actresses! great for fans of greta garbo, mercedes de acosta, barbara stanwyck, joan crawford, and more!
December 31, 2020
Kind of a hard slog to get through in places, but meticulously researched, although not a lot of new ground covered. Some sentence structuring was so weirdly awkward I had to re-read over a couple of times to understand, and a lot of petty typos that are always distracting to me. A good source for other sources; I made notes throughout my reading of other books to read and great old films to see. I’m an old, old film lover, so most were familiar to me, but caught some obscurities I had missed and actually were able to find on Amazon Prime-so bravo! I WOULD recommend this book for younger people than myself with an interest in turn of the last century gay history in general. The book is thorough, I’ll definitely give it that; starts before the “talkies” and ends pretty much at it’s publishing date, 1995. Oh what a difference 25 years can make! 😕
Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews