Queen of Ice, Queen of Shadows: The Unsuspected Life of Sonja Henie [Paperback]

Raymond Strait (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1990

Reveals the hard edge of this skating star.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Scarborough House; 1ST edition (September 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081288518X
• ISBN-13: 978-0812885187
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #688,230 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #50 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Winter Sports > Ice Skating & Figure Skating

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A STUNNING BOOK, July 3, 2000

By 

Henning Sebastian Jahre "Judy-Viv" (Oslo, Norway) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Queen of Ice, Queen of Shadows: The Unsuspected Life of Sonja Henie (Paperback)

As one of the critics says; this i s indeed a pageturner... However, there are numerous faults facts in this book. Among them includes that the film IT`S A PLEASURE was a Fox film. Wrong, it was produced by International and released by RKO. Several critical comments on her films are stolen from among others Leslie Halliwell, a notable filmcritic and the ONLY bible for moviebuffs until internet movie database came along. Stories of Sonja and Tyrone are also way over the top; the talk they had in the dressingroom - how did Leif Henie and Raymond Strait get hold of t h a t? Leif was still in Norway at the time. However. There are several items that distinguish this biography; the stories by Sonja`s secretary Dorothy Stevens in particular... It is true that in creating the ice-skating star Sonja Henie, her father created a monster. But in the long run Sonja suffered from it. She was never taught to be a normal person. And indeed: She gave Norway a place in the sun and donated with her third husband Niels Onstad the Henie-Onstad ArtGallery near Oslo. U should visit it if u came to Norway. All of Sonja`s medals and trophies are in a well-guarded room and photos etc from her films are displayed in a huge basement. It must never be forgotten that she gave our nation a great deal - indeed giving the community of Bærum a home for retired people. U WILL see this reading this book that she was a trouper - a woman who was taught to fight and be competetive. And everything she tried her hands on - became lucrative.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hell on Ice, October 30, 1999

By 

Ted Wilson (Laguna Hills, Calif. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Queen of Ice, Queen of Shadows: The Unsuspected Life of Sonja Henie (Paperback)

I know and have known quite a people who worked with Sonja or were as close a friend as she would permit and this book seems to confirm all that I've heard over the last 40 years. I met Sonja in 1963 in Pittsburgh at the opening of the Pittsburgh Arena. Despite all her shortcomings as a person, there was something about her that fascinates me as a skater and as a person. Anyone interested in skating should read this book.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Facinating book!, December 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Queen of Ice, Queen of Shadows: The Unsuspected Life of Sonja Henie (Paperback)

For those who loved to watch Sonja Heine, this book is a must, showing her amazing rise to fame, volatile temperment and unbelievable perserverance. You won't be able to put it down from start to finish.