
Savage Beauty
The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay
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Narrated by:
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Bernadette Dunne
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By:
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Nancy Milford
Savage Beauty is the portrait of a passionate, fearless woman who obsessed America even as she tormented herself.
If F. Scott Fitzgerald was the hero of the Jazz Age, Edna St. Vincent Millay, as flamboyant in her love affairs as she was in her art, was its heroine. A winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Millay was dazzling in the performance of herself. Her voice was likened to an instrument of seduction, and her impact on crowds and on men was legendary. Yet beneath her studied act, all was not well.
Milford calls her book “a family romance" - for the love between the three Millay sisters and their mother was so deep as to be dangerous. As a family, they were like real-life Little Women, with a touch of Mommie Dearest.
Nancy Milford was given exclusive access to Millay’s papers, and what she found was an extraordinary treasure. Boxes and boxes of letters flew back and forth among the three sisters and their mother - and Millay kept the most intimate diary, one whose ruthless honesty brings to mind Sylvia Plath.
Written with passion and flair, Savage Beauty is an iconic portrait of a woman’s life.
©2001 Nancy Winston Milford (P)2022 Blackstone PublishingListeners also enjoyed...




















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A vivid story from another century
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A good accounting… 3.7
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Fascinating life
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Maine Author
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Exquisitely revealing
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Free spirited, passionate and bisexual, Millay pushed the boundaries of what women should and could do in society. She conquered America, famous for her elfin looks and impassioned readings, and went on to conquer Europe as well.
Edna was devoted to her mother and sisters, helping them to raise their circumstances as soon as she started to make a living.
As passionate and outspoken as she was, she would inevitably attract the attention of influential people everywhere she went. She was fiercely loyal and ethical except when it came to liaisons with married men (or women) with whom she had an inordinate number of affairs.
She finally married a Dutch businessman who became her devoted partner for decades. They died only a year apart after struggling together through financial difficulties, drug and alcohol addiction, world wars and loss of youth, health and beauty.
Her story is tragic but I hope that her example of using her sexuality, intellect, charm and wit to win her independence and fame will speak to generations of women. Also that her tragic battles with addiction are a cautionary tale, she fought, she nearly won and she left a priceless legacy.
Tragic, Intimate Glimpse of Genius
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Milford's biography is detailed and unusual. She includes testy conversations she had with Millay's elderly sister, the gatekeeper of Millay's literary estate, and exhaustive records of Millay's own notes on her use of morphine. I was never bored, but I ended the book feeling as if Milford hadn't quite brought to life Millay's personality and psychology as she did with Zelda Fitzgerald. Especially in the book's second half, she seems to be assembling and printing up her massive research materials rather than interpreting them. The first half seems more fully digested.
Even so, I was VERY happy to have listened to this. I was captivated and haunted. I found the reader easy to listen to and appropriately expressive. (It would be odd to be too dramatic in reading a serious biography.)
Fascinating Woman
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The details from letters, comments from other poets of her time, editors, sister Norma's input, Milford's attention to detail captured the essence of EM.
The reader's neutrality assured that she never pulled attention from the story.
Thank you Audible!
Very well written
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