From Publishers Weekly
The late Marble, America's top woman tennis player in the late 1930s, had a singularly eventful life. Writing with Spur editor Leatherman, she tells of her roller-coaster court career, shepherded by her tyrannical mentor, Eleanor Tennant. A Californian and beautiful, Marble was taken up by the movie community and, as a frequent guest at William Randolph Hearst's castle, met the big stars, becoming close friends with Carole Lombard and Clark Gable. Raped at age 15, she avoided sexual situations until an affair with a Swiss banker, which Tennant broke up. During WW II she married an Army officer who was killed in Germany shortly after she had miscarried their child. Marble then became a spy, and by assignment renewed the affair with her Swiss lover, who was a suspected conduit for Nazi money sent out of the Third Reich. But her mission was thwarted by a double agent. There is nary a dull moment in this fast-moving, glamorous tale. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Marble, who died earlier this year, is probably not well known today, but in international tennis and social circles of the 1930s, she was in demand. She was the top-ranked female tennis player in America from 1936-1940, winning five Wimbledon and 12 U.S. Open titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. Her public life was filled with success. However, her private life was another matter. Fatherless at six, raped at 15, and diagnosed with tuberculosis at 19 right at the threshold of her tennis career, Marble thought she had finally found happiness with her marriage and pregnancy. But within months of one another, she miscarried due to an auto accident and lost her husband in World War II. Amazingly undaunted, Marble used this loss to spur herself into spying for the U.S. Army, seeking out a past lover in order to learn the names of high-ranking Nazis. The anecdotes will satisfy celebrity gossip mavens; Marble's hair-raising exploits as a spy will please those who like Countess Aline and Beryl Markham; and the inherent melodrama of this remarkable woman's life will lure lovers of romance. This is lots of fun; and take note, Jessica Lange and Farrah Fawcett are among the actresses trying to obtain the film rights.
- Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Cty. Free Libs., Seaside, Cal.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Cty. Free Libs., Seaside, Cal.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
