Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations

In 1988, British journalist and biographer Evans (Nemesis: The True Story of Aristotle Onassis, Jackie O, and the Love Triangle That Brought Down the Kennedys) was asked to work with ailing former screen siren Ava Gardner on a memoir about her tempestuous life. Evans died in 2012 as he was attempting to complete it; Gardner herself had died in 1990. What remains is this account of Evans's attempts to work with the actress, who was alternately cooperative and difficult. The result is a mélange of the author's reactions to his subject's unpredictable mood swings (she was drinking heavily) and some of the facts he was able to glean from her. Unfortunately much of it is very repetitious and could have used rigorous editing. Although readers do get a vivid picture of Gardner's personality and some facts (many of them salacious) about her husbands and lovers, there is little insight into the root causes of her often reckless behavior.