This Crazy Thing Called Love: The Golden World and Fatal Marriage of Ann and Billy Woodward

by Susan Braudy

An account of the murder that inspired Dominick Dunne's The Two Mrs. Grenvilles describes how the beautiful showgirl who married the reckless scion of a New York banking fortune was accused of his murder. Reprint.

Genres: True Crime, Biography, Nonfiction, Crime

440 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 4, 1992

Reviews

[Nina · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the most poorly written true crime book I have ever read, which is a huge shame because the story itself is fascinating and has inspired far better fictional works. It's full of bizarre non sequiturs, such as "Sudduth, however, had the impression she was waiting for him to leaver her stateroom so she could continue weeping. It was not only Ann's Balenciaga dresses and her manners." What?
Per the notes at the end, the author did many interviews with a wide variety of people and exhaustively reviewed the grand jury documents. She seems, however, to have just thrown the comments and statements into paragraphs willy nilly with no concern for making actual sense. "Facts" are presented with little to no attempt to put them into context.
This was a very frustrating read.

[Pattie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remember 'The Two Mrs. Grenvilles' by Dominick Dunne? This book tells the story of the real couple - Ann and Billy Woodward. Fascinating story and quite tragic. When I read 'The Two Mrs. Grenvilles,' I was quite sure that she murdered her husband on purpose. After reading this book about the real people, I have to say I came away feeling quite bad for Ann Woodward and believing that it really was a tragic accident when she shot her husband. I've read this book multiple times and was intrigued and fascinated each time.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The weird writing style, with awkward, choppy sentences and whiplash-inducing non-sequiturs, did little to dampen my enthusiasm for this book about scandalous rich people. Was it murder or a tragic accident? Did she truly love him or did she just love the status their relationship gave her? And does having more money than God really make you happy? (Spoiler alert: No.)

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have read the Dominick Dunne book "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles" or Truman Capote's "Unanswered Prayers", then you owe it to yourself to read this book. I'm a sucker for well-written books about the rich and famous and this satisfied on every level. Lots of details and lots of photographs and a juicy story. However, in addition to all of that, I finally read the real version of the killing of Billy Woodward by his wife Ann. The reason I can say that is that this book is so well-documented whereas the other two that preceded it are fictionalized accounts. Furthermore, as a divorcee, the wife would have been so much better off financially than she was as a widow. So her motive for murder was missing. This book really held my interest and it's a rare case when the facts are so much more interesting than the fiction.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written, sympathetic to Ann. I read this on the heels of Dunne's Two Mrs. Grenvilles and Capote's Answered Prayers. This was probably a good order in which to read the retellings of this very sad story - regardless of what you think really happened that night.

[Joseph J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Was attracted to this title 25 years ago because of Billy Woodward's great horse Nashua. I fell into again this Derby week, when ironically like Nashua the unbeatable East Coast colt Tiz the Law was upended by a West Coast runner, as Swaps did in 1955. A see saw year for Billy Woodward. His champion colt lost the Kentucky Derby to Swaps, then humbled Swaps in a great match race, and then Billy was shot to death by his glamorous wife in the hallway darkness of their shockingly cluttered Long Island "villa." The couple was made famous already on sports pages and fledgling t.v. by Nashua; the shooting was front page news. It would be revived years later by Truman Capote and Dominick Dunne, the latter novel becoming a t.v. movie. (Ann Margaret and Claudette Colbert) THIS book is about a poor midwestern girl using her looks and smarts and moderate talent to claw her way to the top of Manhattan society in the mid 20th. century. She hobnobbed with the wealthy and horsey Woodwards and to the horror of her inlaws married into them. There followed an odd an often violent pairing, amid names like Whitney and the Windsors. It already was too unbelievable to be fiction, and then that late October night when a prowler fearing Ann Woodward fired that shot into the dark. Front pages, a society family awkwardly presenting a united front, and more tragedy was ahead. Indeed, more tragedy lived out beyond the book's first publication. If you ever wished to be part of the idle rich, read this, and contemplate how some given so much can lead such wasted, empty and unhappy lives.

[D Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely worth the read

Immediately transported me in time. A factual book based on interviews, articles & facts, unlike other fictional books that painted Ann as a vicious murderer without any facts. While this book allows the reader to judge for themselves, it also gives all sides of each person without placing judgment. As it should have been from the start. The Author honors her craft and respects the reader, trusting them to listen to the story and make the call. Shame on Mr. Capote & Mr. Dunne for their sensationalized books.

[Marsha Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives literal meaning to the term "crazy rich". Although the chapters covering Billy and Ann Woodward's marriage were confusing at times with regard to timelines (particularly if you follow the ages of their boys), it was an enjoyable and interesting read.

[Lisa Mcbroom · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was the crime of the century. Ann Woodward shot her husband thinking he was a prowler. Deep dark secrets begin to immerge.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting as a retrospective of the society and waspish social norms of the time - WWII through the Sixties. The writing style was jarring - vignettes haphazardly thrown together. Braudy appeared to have access to a great deal of material, perhaps through her relationship with Woody Woodward (the son of the murdered Woodward Scion, Billy Woodward) plus first-hand accounts of knowledgeable persons. As such, she covers a lot of ground in a rather lengthy tome that read at times like an issue of the Daily Mail. Gossipy. A fabulously wealthy family built on the twin false gods of money and societal regard masking an huge, vast empty loveless void. An ambitious, striving actress determined to erase her impoverished ‘other side of the tracks’ family of origin and leverage her ‘talents’ to scale the heights of New York High Society. A highly volatile marriage - jealousies, infidelities, private investigators, demeaning public ‘scenes.’ The murder of a spouse, accidental or an otherwise crime of passion (Braudy suggests Ann Woodward was a battered wife), questions around which would dog the family name and continues to this day as immortalized by Truman Capote and Dominick Dunne. Money, sex, drugs, child neglect, guns, mental health challenges and lots of each on the long road to nowhere. Heard the phrase ‘money can’t buy happiness’? This book holds the kernel of that truth.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sordid tale of the potentially devastating, self destructive effects when people lack self confidence amazed this reader with its apparent basis in meticulous, thorough research. The story itself is the hideous tale of how married people who only share the pathology of mental illness and sexual attraction can ruin each others' and their families' lives. The glamorous surroundings and rarefied social status of the protagonists makes it somewhat easier to digest the horror for a while, but in the end it is a macabre and cautionary tale. And the specter of Truman Capote dining out on lies about the situation makes his untimely, gruesome ending as a disrespected social pariah seem like there is a God.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great story

I knew relatively nothing about this story. I did see a movie or something a long time ago about the "Two Mrs. Grenvilles" but did not realize that it was loosely based on this tragic family. I did not want to put the book down, it was that good. A great deal of research was done and I am glad there were pictures and footnotes. It would highly recommend this book.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting this book to focus on the crime but instead it focuses on the life of poor sad Ann Woodward. Fortunately for me, I enjoy bios.

Descriptions of Ann later in life remind me of Miss Havisham from Great Expectations. I don’t think Ann killed Billy on purpose and her life after his death seems to demonstrate that- it keeps spiraling downhill. In my humble opinion, Truman Capote tipped her over the edge, knew he did, and didn’t feel the slightest bit bad about it.

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book and would recommend it to others. It just goes to show that you can be born with tons of money but you can not buy Happiness. Like the way the author wrote the store. Very fast moving and interesting.

[Sondra Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully researched and written. Far, far, far too much about horse-racing, however, which repeatedly diverted me from the subject at hand.

[Ana Mello · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book mostly because decades ago I read the 2 Mrs Greville, by Dominick Dunne, thought it would be interesting to compare the fictionalized account to the true facts.
As far as these kind of books go, it is well written and easy to read. But one has to remember this book is about people who just threw their lives away. Empty lives, empty feelings and empty heads - apart from the self importance given to their own status. It is very sad that there are people around whose life is a constant emptiness apart from their “position in life” , but I sure am not wasting much time being sorry for them

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story behind the stories

So Ann Woodward wasn't married before, or a prostitute or the other awful things mentioned in Truman Capote's story. I think he was a wonderful writer and a jerk. She was alive, he made stuff up, people wanted to believe it. So she committed suicide. Though all of that is complicated by the fact that she sure comes across as a classic case of bipolar.

The family, both sides, had major fault lines. The two kids killed themselves too. Billy, the one Ann shot, was way high strung. Difficult people. Her mom sounds the same, manic depressive.

I really admired Ann's mom for getting an advanced education despite terrible odds. It's sad that her own emotional/mental problems and the Depression stood in the way of her career goals.

Also wanted to say Dominick Dunne knew the truth, but wrote his own fictional account of the shooting, which just made the myth take root all the more. Not right at all. Though it's well written--I've read it.

So many sad, rich people.

[Lissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating account of greed, hypocrisy, guilt and murder amongst the American aristocracy and international jet set of the 40's and 50's. You're not really dead until the Dutchess of Windsor snubs you...

[Tom Nolan]

paperback