Love and Madness: My Private Years With George C. Scott

Rating:
Summary: A Woman Scorned
Review: Everybody knows the star of Patton was a brilliant actor but not exactly a warm and fuzzy human being. Ms. Truesdell Riehl's account of her relationship with Scott is a compelling story of his destructive influence on innocent lives. There is no self-pity here, though. The author's narrative is laced with warmth, wit, and the wisdom that comes only from hard experience.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Tell All Story
Review: Love and Madness is not only a titillating story of a celebrity's secret love life, it is a penetrating look into the heart of a woman who had to live with the scandal of an out-of-wedlock birth during the 1950's, when women caught in those circumstances were considered sluts. Truesdell Riehl's courageous and well-written story will remind you of how far we've come since those days, when living in a home for unwed mothers and following your heart when your head knows better were matters to be swept under the carpet and shared only in whispers and knowing smiles.

Rating:
Summary: Living in the Shadow of a Star
Review: Truesdell-Riehl's story of her 30-year clandestine love affair with George C. Scott is a gripping tale, beautifully told. The author met and fell in love with Scott when she was in her freshman year at Stephens College and he was a theatre instructor. After acting with him in summer stock following her graduation, Truesdell-Riehl gave up a promising acting career to go to New York with Scott, working as a dental assistant, while he pounded the pavement in search of acting jobs. Her story, written with both wit and wisdom, provides insight into the tormented life of this international film star and the woman he called the love of his life. It's a page turner I couldn't put down!