Henry and Clare [Paperback]

Ralph G. Martin (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The stormy marriage of Henry Luce (1898-1967), founder of the Time-Life publishing empire, and Clare Booth Brokaw (1903-1987), editor of Vanity Fair , congresswoman, war correspondent, playwright and diplomat, was a fiercely competitive alliance marked by intense loneliness and numerous affairs on both sides. Godfearing, patriotic Henry, son of Presbyterian missionaries to China, had two great loves: theatrical producer Jean Dalrymple and Lady Jean Campbell, daughter of British newspaper tycoon Lord Beaverbrook, who married Norman Mailer. Henry's affairs with these and other women drove his outspoken, brash wife to demand a divorce and attempt suicide, even though she herself had a stream of lovers. Martin ( Charles and Diana ) reveals Henry's yearnings to be a public hero and his frustrated political ambitions. He portrays Clare as a woman consumed by private demons, including knowledge of a brother's probable suicide. This riveting dual biography is both a peek inside the Luce publishing empire and a candid love story that rips away the veil of secrecy surrounding a "royal American couple." Photos.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In this case, an intimate portrait means every publicly available detail, along with fresh information from new interviews, about public and private activities. A Martin book means a well-integrated storyline, written from a somewhat analytical and detached perspective, told in a captivating manner for a gossip-loving general audience. The subjects are Henry Luce (1898-1967), the founder and creative force of Time Inc., and Clare Boothe Luce (1903-1987), the congresswoman and ambassador. The book is hard to put down, exactly right for a BOMC and History Book Club alternate selection. Recommended more for a library's biography section than for the media collection, since it concentrates on the personal, not the business side.
- Abraham Z. Bass, Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 463 pages
• Publisher: Perigee Trade (September 16, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399517812
• ISBN-13: 978-0399517815
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,436,830 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting lives, June 15, 2010

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Wendy "Librarylover" (europe) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Henry and Clare (Paperback)

Good and compelling book about two fascinating people. Strange that they are not remembered as well as others who accomplished less.

I first became interesting in Clare Booth Luce after reading 'Rage for Fame: The Ascent of Clare Booth Luce' by Sylvia Morris which was fascinating book but ultimately unsatisfactory as the author ends the book in mid-sentence, or so it feels, in the middle of Clare's life with no hint as to what happens with the rest of it. I can only imagine she planned to write the second half but never did.

However this book finishes the story of Clare's life, plus provides equal information on Henry Luce and their marriage. What an amazing couple, how sad and strange it is that despite their success and achieving so many dreams, they are ultimately lonely and unsatisfied with life.

There is one strange error, the author writes on page 126 that Franklin Roosevelt was 'crippled by polio since childhood' and since even I know he was an adult in his late 30s when he got it, this made me worried about other errors although I didn't notice any but I am no expert.

Two other strange connections, if one likes this sort of thing, one mentioned in the book, that Clare's first husband (George Tuttle Brokaw) went on to marry Frances Ford Seymour and had a daughter, after their divorce, she (FFS) then married Henry Fonda and was mother to Jane and Peter before her suicide. Therefore Clare's daughter Ann was the half sister to Frances De Villers Brokaw who is the half sister to Jane and Peter. Complicated, I know. And not mentioned is that Henry Luce's son Henry Luce III was for about 10+ years the step-father to the actor William Hurt and knew Henry Luce Sr. He recently mentioned that on NPR with Terry Gross.