Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne

by James Gavin

THE “DEFINITIVE” ( VANITY FAIR ) BIOGRAPHY OF LEGEND LENA HORNE—THE CELEBRATED STAR OF STAGE, MUSIC, AND FILM WHO BLAZED A TRAIL FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS IN HOLLYWOOD AND BEYOND

Drawing on a wealth of unmined material and hundreds of interviews— one of them with Lena Horne herself—critically acclaimed author James Gavin gives us a “deftly researched” ( The Boston Globe ) and authoritative portrait of the American icon. Horne broke down racial barriers in the entertainment industry in the 1940s and ’50s even as she was limited mostly to guest singing appearances in splashy Hollywood musicals. Incorporating insights from the likes of Ruby Dee, Tony Bennett, Diahann Carroll, and Bobby Short, Stormy Weather reveals the many faces of this luminous, complex, strong-willed, passionate, even tragic woman—a stunning talent who inspired such giants as Barbra Streisand, Eartha Kitt, and Aretha Franklin.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Music, Race, History, African American, Biography Memoir

608 pages, Paperback

First published May 5, 2009

About the author

James^Gavin, author of books about jazz.

Reviews

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up knowing that Lena Horne was one of the biggest brightest smartest star African Americans had ever seen. Reading this book transported me back to her early years in film and music. I was surprised to know that Horne was tormented as a child being called "high yeller" or emotionally abused. Her stardom was an act of love for her mom while her hearted longed to be truly loved unconditionally. It was heartbreaking to know that Horne saw her job as a dancer at the Cotton Club "as an escape from a miserable home life".
There were several interesting facts that I learned…her early marriage was doomed by the start. Louis Jones was abusive & shunned for marrying down. She left performing for a short time to be a good wife till she realized she didn't know how (now that’s tragic). Lena Horne was inaccurately credited as having been the 1st to sign a long term contract with a major company (but her contract was more lucrative). She was considered to be a "interesting weapon against Hollywood racism”. She lived in a state of depression and low self-esteem. She said this on several occasions, "Never hope too hard, it never pans out".

I met Lena Horne at a Delta convention in the late ‘80’s. She was beautiful and very pleasant. I was excited to read about how she joined our wonderful sorority. The Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. president Jeanne Noble, persuaded Horne to become an honorary member of DST on Dec. 21, 1958. Noble would help her to change her image and serve as an advisor until the early ‘70’s. There were several other items like relationships, movies, music and family that shocked me but you will have to read the book to find them out.

[Victoria Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since the dawn of cinema and before ground-breaking Black icons such as Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, and Denzel Washington emerged onto the screen and presented positive depictions of Black Americans, Hollywood had been in the shameful practice of perpetuating false imagery of the African-American community.

Realistic and third-dimensional portrayals of the social diversity of the African-American were eschewed in place of damaging and destructive stereotypes which ranged from the "lazy" or "incompetent" (Stepin Fetchit's characters come to mind) to the overweight, unattractive "mammy" figure.

Otherwise talented and ambitious African-American artists were rarely given the chance for serious work, but instead shunted into a one-dimensional and offensive representation of their culture and self.

It was during this dark era in Hollywood that one woman managed to bypass all of these negative trappings and for one of the first times in mainstream film, get the chance to represent a Black woman as a glamorous starlet on par with any Myrna Loy, Lana Turner, or Rita Hayworth.



Enter Lena Horne, a woman who represented the pinnacle of sophistication and became an icon for an oppressed community, but whose background and journey was much more multi-layered than the surface would indicate.


Lena was born into the genteel world of the Black bourgeousie, June of 1917, in Brooklyn, NY to a young and handsome couple of mixed African-American, White, and Native American ancestries. They were Edna Louise Scottron and Edwin Fletcher Horne, Jr., affectionately nicknamed 'Teddy'. The people surrounding Lena in her world such as her formidable and dignified paternal grandmother Cora Calhoun, took pride in their family's impressive accomplishments against all odds within a prejudicial country, and such as Cora, were often dedicated to the advocacy of civil rights for their community. This strong sense of civil duty to those less fortunate influenced Lena for the rest of her life, as she also dedicated herself to fighting for the cause of equality. As the book details, this admirable purpose often would cause her to be very intolerant of behaviors and individuals she felt were degrading to her as well as influencing her decisions on the films and projects she would choose.


We learn that Lena's path to stardom in a way, began with her own mother Edna's aspirations to become a great actress. As a young African-American woman attempting to achieve stardom in the theater world, life was often hard for her and her daughter. Her marriage eventually dissolved and for a time, she and young Lena tramped to various towns as Edna determinedly chased her dreams.

Lena eventually went to live with her grandmother Cora, a woman who was the complete opposite of her mother in nearly every way. Her sternness as well as dedication to social activism, however, collided and blended with Edna's personality trait of taking risks, resulting in Lena's trajectory.


She broke into show business through being a chorus girl at the Cotton Club in Harlem, a legendary nightclub that very infamously served [for the most part] only white clientele and presented only the fairest-skinned young Black women on stage. From that heady, smoke-filled world she quickly rose through the ranks of stardom going to the Noble Sissle Orchestra a few years later, conducting the band and singing.

In the early 1940's was when Lena started breaking major barriers and became who we know today. She signed a contract with MGM ("more stars than there are in the heavens!") and quickly made her dazzling presence known in a succession of musical films that included "Panama Hattie" (her debut), "Stormy Weather", and my personal favorite, "Cabin in the Sky".

What James Gavin goes on to detail, however, is the frequent frustration Lena felt at constantly being featured in solely musical numbers that were often 'cutaway' (or deleted from the film) in parts of the South. What many may not realize is that she had a yearning to expand her talents and try out dramatic/comedic roles, but the Catch-22 is that the various parts she was offered, she often felt compelled to turn down for various reasons, the main one was not wanting to do anything remotely resembling racial stereotyping and the other reason being that so many potential projects fell through undoubtedly with prejudice/ultimate disinterest playing a factor. One gets the feeling that with all of the work she did and contributions she made to cinema history, she still came along too early in this respect....

In the book, it is also described of how as an African-American film starlet [really, the first], civil rights leaders and organizations were closely watching her career decisions, not wanting her to do anything to tarnish her image and the delicate balance of being a 'symbol' of her race. This balance between maintaining a near-perfect public image and *personally* just wanting to have the freedom of complete and total artistic creativity seemed to have become somewhat of an inner struggle for her in her professional life. This structure of her image and public personhood was said to have even lent itself to her particular style of singing, giving it a cool type of power. It was in the 1960's and 1970's that Lena seemed to have 'rediscovered' her self, in a way, creating a looser personality and stylization. Both Lenas, however, always sought perfection!

As a fan of Lena, her films and her music, I can honestly say that this biography helped me appreciate all of the intricate layers of this performer's life. She was not perfect. She was a flawed human being as is the rest of us, but what I strongly admire about the late Ms. Horne is that unlike so many others, she seemed to have channeled the disappointments and traumas of her life into a precise and driven ambition--ambition for the greater development of her art and a fiery advocacy of basic HUMAN rights.


It seemed to have been suggested, from various anecdotes in the book, (at least, this is my understanding), that ultimately, Ms. Horne possessed a coldness...a barrier which often prevented certain people from getting too close. Of course, I have never met the lady and did not know her, so I cannot definitely agree or disagree. But if she was cautious of certain people throughout her remarkable life, I cannot honestly say that I blame her. Described in the earlier parts of the book, the bigotry as well as personal let-downs she experienced were sharp and regretful. Perhaps this was her shield against a world she'd often found harsh.


In any case, I'd recommend this book if for no other reason than it is a relatively well-balanced and realistic portrayal of not just a singer or icon but a complex and fully third-dimensional human being. I give it a solid four stars!

[Author N. M. Shabazz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ageless beauty is what comes to mind for many whenever jazz singer and entertainer Lena Horne is mentioned, not being insecure or marginally talented. But James Gavin’s biography, Stormy Weather, portrays a side of her few have ever fathomed.
According to the book, Horne got her start mainly because of her skin color and her looks, not because of her talent. She was a light-skinned black whose European features and beauty were palatable enough to allow her to be thrust into the mainstream of jazz and entertainment at white nightclubs.
Yet this presented a certain conundrum to the woman who is now known as an icon. For much of her life, Horne would have identity issues related to skin color. This would be compounded by the fact that her grandmother Cora, who had a strong influence over her, was not only racist but elitist.
Stormy Weather takes its name from the song that Lena Horne popularized during her genesis as an entertainer. In naming the book this, Gavin shows certain sarcasm. Horne hated the song. Yet as her popularity grew, she was forced to sing it more frequently to appease her audiences.
Additionally, Ethel Waters—one of Horne’s early nemeses—first sang “Stormy Weather” at the Cotton Club; in 2003 her 1933 single of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. To have a biography named after a song you abhorred—for which an enemy won a Grammy—is seemingly a pyrrhic accomplishment.
The book goes into detail how Horne was trained—first by her grandmother and then by executives at MGM Studios—to smile, look elegant, and be a lady no matter what adversities she was faced. But Horne’s beautiful smile became a double edged sword.
During the early part of her career, though she was fast becoming a national star, Jim Crow was still very much the law of the land. Horne would get rich entertaining white audiences, maintaining her smile, all the while being forced to enter the places at where she was entertaining through the backdoor.
Horne’s smile and silence would also lead her—she felt to some degree—to get pigeon-holed at MGM, regulating her to movies where she only sang, but took no major acting part. At the same time, her mask of ambivalence would lead her to be a pawn in the NAACP’s efforts to integrate Hollywood for African-Americans.
Perhaps what she perceived as such social inaction is what later led Horne to so thoroughly embrace the Civil Rights movement. However, many—particularly Horne’s white friends—were shocked that someone so elegant and glamorous would embrace Malcolm X’s philosophies over Martin Luther King Jr’s.
This might have been because of her grandmother’s influence or because of Horne’s perceived silence as to the Jim Crow treatment of African-Americans. Still, at one point we see Horne—at in a social setting with her second husband, Lennie Hayton—hurling an ashtray at a white man for using the “N” word rather carefree.

Stormy Weather is aplenty with interesting background about Horne and the people around her. It goes into her beefs with Frank Sinatra, Josephine Baker, and her love-hate-relationship with Harry Belafonte. It also discusses some of men with whom she’s had affairs; among these were Orson Wells, Duke Ellington, and a very married Joe Louis.
Initially, there was a tendency to be skeptical of Stormy Weather since Gavin had only interviewed Horne once, in 1994, for an article in the New York Times. Yet, through detailed documentation and consultations with myriad key characters from Horne’s life, Gavin leaves no doubt he has researched his subject well.

Overall, Stormy Weather is a good read, although at times Gavin appears repetitious and long winded. And at 598 pages, it’s not a quick read. Consequently, while documentation is one of the book’s strengths, it’s also one of its weaknesses. At times, Stormy Weather becomes bogged down with unnecessary detail as if Gavin is trying to reassure readers as to the accuracy of his words.
While the biography is not necessarily a tribute to Lena Horne, it does show her resiliency and that beauty, in her case, did run more than skin deep. Whether you’re a student of the history of jazz, a fan of Lena Horne, or a conessourer of a good story, Stormy Weather is a compelling book.

[Donie Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gavin once again unveils the woman behind the voice. In this case, Lena Horne is revealed as a complicated, tormented woman. Her ambition influenced every relationship in her life: she was an absentee parent and a difficult boss. She had a lot of ambivalence about her marriage to Lennie Hayton, a white man, who put her career before his own. They stayed married, but lived separate lives. Lena was always at odds with what she really wanted and what she thought everyone else expected of her. She resented her beauty, yet realized that it opened doors for her. Unlike Peggy Lee, the subject of another Gavin bio, Lena had to develop her voice and her singing style--it was not a natural gift. Lena’s childhood was chaotic. Her beloved gambler father abandoned her & her mother when she was a toddler. Her Horne grandmother, an activist who left the household duties to her husband, initially raised her with lots of rules and little love or affection. Lena was constantly reminded that she was a "Horne" and had to set an example. At the same time, Lena’s narcissistic mother was a rebel who often “kidnapped” Lena from the grandmother only to leave her with strangers, while pursuing her own ambitions in the entertainment world. Lena was resented for having the career her mother wanted. Engrossing read.

[Jerry Wendt · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Gavin has written the definitive bio on Ms Horne. His exhaustive and unbiased research have been coupled with an easy-going narrative that makes Lena Horne come to life within the pages of his book. I had the additional pleasure of seeing his stage production "Stormy Weather" where he intersperses historical data and anecdotes between stylized Horne classics performed by the very talented Mary Wilson, of the Supremes. Wilson and Gavin, backed by a live musical combo make a fascinating and riveting showcase for Lena Horne's life and talent. In the process I have come to know James as a dedicated and motivated man who is serious about his craft but also much involved in respecting the accomplishment of his subjects without slanting the telling of very human people behind their celebrity. He has a unique talent in bringing his subject alive within the story. I can't wait for his upcoming book "Is That All There Is?- the Life of Peggy Lee," due for release fall of 2014

[Osa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book - although, I was in constant surprise about how little I knew about the circumstances surrounding Ms. Horne's career, someone I'd idolized for a very long time. It's clear that the author spent a lot of time interviewing people close to Ms. Horne, personally and professionally, so one doesn't have to worry much about reading a book made up entirely of speculations (which, let's be honest, some of these celebrity biographies are).

Early on in the book, the author makes repeated assertions that Lena Horne hated Caucasians - which is puzzling at first, since he provides little evidence by way of anecdotes to support this. It isn't until later on in the book that he provides these examples, many of them direct quotes from Ms. Horne. He takes a look at her career and ascension to stardom, with lots of commentary from people she worked with (which is great because they often provide accounts contradicting Ms. Horne's version of things), but very little from her family members. Indeed, her first husband reportedly refused to talk about her, even though theirs was a tumultuous, and ultimately, destructive relationship that never improved. The author spends a lot of time detailing Lena's early years, providing a variety of reasons (mostly bad parenting) for Lena's later hang-ups about love, sex, and race. He spends a lot of time showing what a struggle it was for her to be this untouchable idol for Black America, at a time when Blacks needed desperately to have position images of the Black female - not just as a way of educating Caucasians, but as something to be proud of and to aspire to.

In this portrayal, Ms. Horne consistently comes across as self-involved, lacking in empathy for anyone other than herself, a victim (a role she willingly embodied for her own reasons), and as someone who would not accept responsibility for her own failings and bad decisions. Ms. Horne also supposedly spent a lot of time vigorously hating "White people", even though, many in her social set were White, and her second husband was White. This is a story of a woman who, it appears, could never figure out who she was and suffered a lifelong identity crisis, thereby, always reinventing herself for her audience. A woman who appeared to think that she was the only one who got to experience common burdens of life - being held back in your profession, for example, because of the color of your skin.

While thoroughly shocking (to me), I enjoyed learning about the history of that time in the entertainment business, and especially reading about all the celebrity connections (her friendship with Ava Gardner, and dislike of Frank Sinatra). Absolutely worth the read.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

To me Lena Horne was the lady who sang with Grover (my fave) on Sesame Street and with Kermit the Frog on the Muppet Show. I still do not feel that I know her any better after reading this book. The 2 problems I had with it were both the authors fault and not the authors fault. Not the fault was that Horne herself has changed her history and the order of things throughout the years, making it hard to tell what was her imagination and what happened. As for the at fault, well, that maybe partly me, since I have been a student of the civil rights movement for years and knew of the struggles of the black race at the time Horne started her career. I felt that there were too many biographies of her contempories and the roots of the Civil Rights movement than there was about the subject, but again, that may be me.

[David Freeland · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Gavin's great strength as a biographer, I feel, is his ability (and willingness) to look at his subject from a range of different angles, never becoming fully satisfied until he's assessed, then reassessed, and assessed some more. In this fascinating study of the great, complicated Lena Horne, Gavin never goes for the easy solutions. Many biographers would have; Gavin could probably have gotten away with it too, but thankfully he doesn't. It's as if he's constantly holding his subject up to scrutiny, asking himself (and us), "what more can we learn here?" In the end, the 92-year old Horne emerges as a captivating, if deeply problematic, individual.

[Rick Rapp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always liked Lena Horne and enjoyed her performances. Her one woman show, A Lady and Her Music was terrific. Because of that, I never should have read this book. Horne is portrayed as perpetually angry and unappreciative. She gets assistance from dozens of people; she always turns on them. There are fascinating stories here and some truly disturbing episodes of racism, but Horne was equally intolerant with both whites and blacks. No matter how much she achieves, it is never enough. Lena Horne seemed to be a deeply unhappy and lonely woman. I would have been content not to know this.

[Annie Garvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully evenhanded look at the life of Lena Horne. It's dishy and all the loose ends are tied up. I really didn't know anything about Lena Horne. She isn't the nicest person, but Horne is a tragic survivor.

[Susan Ose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lena Horne was a miserable person. James Gavin is a boring biographer.

[Brent · Rating 5 out of 5]

This amazing life story earned this amazing biography. The beginning is better than the end. She'[s complicated!
Great book: recommended.

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Close - occasionally even felt like too close - look at the life of showbiz icon whose life encompassed everything from Cotton Club, 1940s Hollywood in M-G-M days, Las Vegas stardom and 1960s civil rights movement to late career bloom in 1980s and beyond. In fact, this lady covers the whole 20th century. I wanted to read this book forever and it was even better than I expected as it works on two levels: not only as psychological portrait of its subject but also as a much wider, panoramic sweep of the whole society and how it changed with time. James Gavin took a heroic task that could have easily result in just another idolized celebrity biography but he is too intelligent for that - by poking the story from different angles and allowing the reader to come to his own conclusions, he sympathizes but only to the point, never shying away from obvious truth no matter how unflattering it might be.

The book was very detailed and fascinating as it presents not only popular perception of Horne as a heroine-who-survived-all-odds but closely inspects the cracks in the image she cultivated trough the decades. It would be too simplistic to focus only on sanctified, cleaned up picture of black beauty who was not allowed and constantly wronged in racially segregated post-WW2 America but as Gavin points, she was in fact pampered and treated far better than anybody else (to the point that other black actors resented her) and as for her sporadical and completely decorative movie work, lack of serious roles might had more to do with her acting talent than with racial prejudices, which unconsciously Horne must have known because it was easier to boast about what might have been than to admit she often pulled out of projects proposed to her. Well documented involvement in 1960s civil rights protests comes off as a personal, angry crusade against the world that wronged her and black community took it with suspicion - she was not some tired Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat in a bus but fashion plate driven in limousines from one well paid Las Vegas job to another. Gavin also explores Horne's music and explains how her image constantly eclipsed everything else - she was successful as glamorous nightclub performer but never taken seriously as a singer and public rarely bought her albums, finding something icy and off-putting about her cobra-like persona. To some extent, most of successful performers might be opportunists but Horne's willingness to always blame others (and create her own version of story) eventually catches up with her and under close scrutiny shows lifelong anger and hatred that curiously have a lot in common with her old nemesis, Ethel Waters. Both women were scarred by bad experiences, sacrificed personal happiness for success in the business and were quick to construct their own story when it suited them. That late career bloom (famous celebrated "The Lady and her Music" show), Gavin explains, was simply another carefully prepared and acted role that celebrated longevity in business, while obscuring and twisting the facts.
Fascinating.

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having lived through the Civil Rights movement I was intensely interested in Gavin's interweaving of Lena Horne's story with the state of our nation in regards to race relations throughout her life. He did an amazing job of shining a spotlight on many issues that remain today and used one woman's experiences and choices to show how damaging living under extreme prejudice can be. Horne's story is a fascinating one and Gavin does not attempt to make it a glossy, Hollywood story, but the stark reality of who Horne was behind the pretty face. She was a complicated, sometimes admirable, sometimes disgusting human being, just like the rest of us.

[Tracie Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was not only a great read. It gave a historical review from black entertainment, black bourgeois and the shenanigans of Hollywood biggest studios. I am impressed with the research and enthralled by the elements of the book that took you through the chapters from Harlem Renaissance to Civil rights movement. The author introduced the woman and her music in ways that filled with heart felt confusion of Lena Horne. The family dynamics made me either laugh or cry. I enjoyed the book immensely and will remember Lena Horne in brilliant light and the courageous star.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never expected to actually finish it but I did, which is entirely a tribute to the quality of the writing. I'm not a big fan of Lena Horne. She always struck me as an oddly hostile and aloof performer and now I know why: she genuinely loathed most of her audience. After reading this biography, I have a little more sympathy for her, but no more affection. (PS: I don't know how with-it she is at this point but, if she's aware of it, she must HATE this book!)

[Legojana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne is a graet read. It is very detailed in telling the life of the great American entertainer Lena Horne. However, When you get into some parts of the story you tend to feel if what the author is writing is totally true or if he just got that from another magazine article or book on this famous icon of entertainment. Overall, Stormy Weather is a interesting and Captivating story.

[Robert Starner]

A terrific read and exploration of one of the entertainment world's most gifted and complicated women. Author presents extensive research of Lena Hornes full life with interviews from a broad range of collaborators. I had the opportunity to attend any author event a few weeks ago in Washington DC and was grateful for the author's presentation which included several video clips from periods throughout Horne's career which showcase her many moods and true vocal abilities.

[Linda Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is about Lena Horne who was a singer and her life beginning as a young girl growing up as a mixed race girl at a time when many people considered it unacceptable. She was neglected and abandoned over and over in her childhood. Life was difficult but ultimately she became a successful singer. So far, I would definitely recommend this book.

[Nadivyah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am currently reading this book and I find her life very interesting. Partly because of the time period she began her career in. The Harlem Ren. is one of my favorite era's and the struggles of that time, make the successess of Lena and others all the more sweet. They endured so much that we take for granted

[Jessi · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely look at the life of a ground-breaking actress. Lena was not only a beautiful woman, she was politically active (to the point of being blacklisted for being too left-leaning), and worked to help bring about equal rights in the 1950's. This book is truly in-depth describing her start in the famous cotton club up to the point of her self-imposed seclusion.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm one of the biggest Lena Horne fans, and read her daughter's biography of their family in record time. This book, by James Gavin, is even more in depth, with more recent observations and research (up to 2009). Amazing and in-depth overview of Ms. Horne's personal life and obstacles.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think for a biography to be charming the biographier needs to have sympathy for their subject. This book is well researched but it comes off as if the author thinks Lena is a whiny victim.
I don't need hagiography just a bit more understanding of how having all doors closed can rankle

[Reginald · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best bio of 2009...of this I am sure!

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed book about the life of Lena Horne. It brought to light the many difficulties of black entertainers in the 40s, 50s and 60s. She was a very insecure and angry woman.

[Barry Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Born into a mixed race family, who expected the highest standards of respectability and decorum from her and a mother who was stage-struck and determined to be a success in show business, Lena Horne had an itinerant, conflicted upbringing and felt unloved by her separated parents. Because of her light-skinned beauty and her mother's ambitions she herself entered show business at a time of massive prejudice. That and her voice, which was light, brittle, unemotional, with good diction, none of the qualities associated with her race, made for a difficult time but left her with an iron will to learn, improve and master the qualities she wasn't born with. Many of her detractors thought she coasted by on her looks. Because of her early experiences she disliked white people but married them for societal access or was indebted to them for getting her jobs. MGM wanted her for films but mostly for her looks, manners and musical talents. She wanted to act but was limited by her stiffness and lack of access to her emotions. They cast her in mostly small singing roles, which could be cut out in the segregated South. In a career of disappointments, perceived slights and uphill battles she developed a frosty, prickly manner, quick to anger and long to hold grudges. Many times, she was her own worst enemy. Despite a long career of ground-breaking accomplishments, she was unsatisfied, full of self-doubt, and prone to lashing out. James Gavin captures her conflicted life in all its complexity. A deep look at a perplexing but gifted artist. - BH.

[Ralphz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great, sad, honest look at Lena Horne. Fiery and confident, she was manipulated her whole life, by her mother, husbands and ex-husbands, black organizations and movie studios, and "advisors" with an agenda.

All her life, she faced racism from whites and blacks. Her family hated whites and rejected her white, Jewish husband Lennie Hayton. At several points, she struggled with her own white blood, pushing away white family and friends.

She also was under a lot of pressure to be a black role model, a "representative" of her race. Even the NAACP, at times, pressured her to turn down movie roles if they weren't "progressive" enough.

Some black actors also resented her elegance and glamor in Hollywood because they lived off the maid and shoeshine roles.

But largely, Hollywood didn't know what to do with her, and she didn't know what to do with Broadway, withdrawing from roles before shows opened.

In interviews throughout her life, her memories are foggy, maybe made up, often bitter. She also was jealous of those black women who followed her: Barbara McNair, Diahann Carroll, etc.

Finally, at her moment of triumph, in a one-woman Broadway show, she revised - and made up - a lot of her personal story. Maybe to make the wins bigger, maybe to satisfy her own ego. Lena, who always had perfect diction, was jiving it up with a "black" patois, and those who knew her well - even her family - weren't buying it.

The author writes: "The exhaustion of taking everything personally, of living in constant attack mode, had begun to wear her down."

This is the story of a diva and bitter woman, and that's unfortunate.

[Florence Buchholz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lena Horne was a beautiful, glamorous black woman who was not treated kindly by the entertainment industry. From her early days at Harlem's Cotton Club she performed for mostly white audiences since blacks were barred from entering. In Hollywood, while under contract to MGM she waited years for a dramatic role, to no avail. She was given only cameo singing roles not pertinent to the movie's plot. They were then cut when the movies played in Southern States. To further her career Lena became a nightclub singer. Often when she headlined a performance she was not allowed to use the hotel's main entrance or she was forced to stay in an establishment that accepted blacks. These racist incidents justifiably outraged Lena. Through the years she became justifiably embittered though she presented herself as an emotionally reserved entrancing goddess of song. James Gavin's book was sympathetic but candidly presents Lena as a temperamental diva, plagued by insecurity, prickly to work with, but undeniably a great talent.

[Rosalind · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fascinating read that gave a lot of details and insight into Lena Horne's complicated life. The one problem that I had with the book was the glaring white gaze of the author. It's clear that he was not familiar with a lot of Black cultural cues or history. Janet Jackson was described as someone with little acting experience and a small voice. It was hard for me to overlook constant cultural inaccuracies and misunderstandings of the Black experience. It would have been a much stronger book if he had educated himself about the Black experience beyond newspaper clippings.

[Ray Quirolgico · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never knew much about Lena Horne, only what any external observer might figure out: the singer, the actress, the celebrity, the grand dame… This incredibly researched biography reveals so much pain and triumph that shows this historical figure has really lived in and lived through history, with all of the social and political complications that come with that. The fact that so much majesty in her voice and presence lives with us now is a gift to future-history, just like this book.