Flame: A Novel

by R.V. Cassill

A novel obviously based on the life of Susan Hayward. The fictional heroine is Kelly Rayburn, who is brought to Hollywood to test for the role of Scarlett O'Hara (as did Hayward). Pregnant, she is ordered by her studio to marry a minor but good-looking "B" picture actor, and has twins. (Hayward married B-movie actor Jess Parker and had twins.) When the marriage fails, Rayburn marries a Nashville businessman. But her future is full more of hopeless heartbreak.

310 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1980

About the author

Ronald Verlin Cassill, Professor of English at Brown University, was a novelist and anthologist.