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    All the Stars in the Heavens: A Novel
    All the Stars in the Heavens: A Novel
    All the Stars in the Heavens: A Novel
    Audiobook14 hours

    All the Stars in the Heavens: A Novel

    Written by Adriana Trigiani

    Narrated by Blair Brown

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    New York Times Bestseller • USA Today Bestseller • Publishers Weekly Bestseller 

    People's Book of the Week

    Annual Library of Virginia Literary Awards Nominee for Fiction

    Adriana Trigiani, the New York Times bestselling author of the blockbuster epic The Shoemaker's Wife, returns with her biggest and boldest novel yet, a hypnotic tale based on a true story and filled with her signature elements: family ties, artistry, romance, and adventure. Born in the golden age of Hollywood, All the Stars in the Heavens captures the luster, drama, power, and secrets that could only thrive in the studio system—viewed through the lives of an unforgettable cast of players creating magic on the screen and behind the scenes.

    In this spectacular saga as radiant, thrilling, and beguiling as Hollywood itself, Adriana Trigiani takes us back to Tinsel Town's golden age—an era as brutal as it was resplendent—and into the complex and glamorous world of a young actress hungry for fame and success. With meticulous, beautiful detail, Trigiani paints a rich, historical landscape of 1930s Los Angeles, where European and American artisans flocked to pursue the ultimate dream: to tell stories on the silver screen.

    The movie business is booming in 1935 when twenty-one-year-old Loretta Young meets thirty-four-year-old Clark Gable on the set of The Call of the Wild. Though he's already married, Gable falls for the stunning and vivacious young actress instantly.

    Far from the glittering lights of Hollywood, Sister Alda Ducci has been forced to leave her convent and begin a new journey that leads her to Loretta. Becoming Miss Young's secretary, the innocent and pious young Alda must navigate the wild terrain of Hollywood with fierce determination and a moral code that derives from her Italian roots. Over the course of decades, she and Loretta encounter scandal and adventure, choose love and passion, and forge an enduring bond of love and loyalty that will be put to the test when they eventually face the greatest obstacle of their lives.

    Anchored by Trigiani's masterful storytelling that takes you on a worldwide ride of adventure from Hollywood to the shores of southern Italy, this mesmerizing epic is, at its heart, a luminous tale of the most cherished ties that bind. Brimming with larger-than-life characters both real and fictional—including stars Spencer Tracy, Myrna Loy, David Niven, Hattie McDaniel and more—it is it is the unforgettable story of one of cinema's greatest love affairs during the golden age of American movie making.

    Praise for All the Stars in the Heavens:

    ""Trigiani spins a tale of star-crossed lovers... A heartwarming tale of women's lives behind the movies."" - Kirkus Reviews

    ""A thoroughly entertaining tale that brings Hollywood's golden age alive."" -People

    ""A tinsel-trimmed treat for movie buffs and Trigiani fans alike."" -Library Journal

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateOct 13, 2015
    ISBN9780062419903
    All the Stars in the Heavens: A Novel
    Author

    Adriana Trigiani

    Beloved by millions of readers around the world for her ""dazzling"" novels (USA Today), Adriana Trigiani is “a master of palpable and visual detail” (Washington Post) and “a comedy writer with a heart of gold” (New York Times). She is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty books of fiction and nonfiction, including her latest, The Good Left Undone- an instant New York Times best seller, Book of the Month pick and People’s Book of the Week. Her work is published in 38 languages around the world. An award-winning playwright, television writer/producer and filmmaker, Adriana’s screen credits include writer/director of the major motion picture of her debut novel, Big Stone Gap, the adaptation of her novel Very Valentine and director of Then Came You. Adriana grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia where she co-founded The Origin Project, an in-school writing program serving over 1,700 students in Appalachia. She is at work on her next novel for Dutton at Penguin Random House.  Follow Adriana on Facebook and Instagram @AdrianaTrigiani and on TikTok @AdrianaTrigianiAuthor or visit her website: AdrianaTrigiani.com.  Join Adriana’s Facebook LIVE show, Adriana Ink, in conversation with the world’s greatest authors- Tuesdays at 3 PM EST! For more from Adriana’s interviews, you can subscribe to her Meta “Bulletin” column, Adriana Spills the Ink: adrianatrigiani.bulletin.com/subscribe.

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    Reviews for All the Stars in the Heavens

    3.5/5

    122 ratings21 reviews

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    • 4/5
      If you are old enough to remember Loretta Young, you should enjoy this.
    • 2/5
      This was the first Adriana Trigiani book I've read, and it's likely to be the last. Oddly written, with dull characters and switching points of view, including an omniscient narrator that seemed to be lecturing the reader about how the old Hollywood system worked, and how the main characters had to feel the way they did. The author was very much telling, not showing, and it was SO BORING. I checked this book out from the library as a 1-week "rental". So I paid $1.50 up front to check this book out. It was such a slow read, I had to literally force myself to finish it, which I didn't do until 8 days past the due date, so I racked up another $3 in fines. This was a complete and utter waste of nearly $5. At least I didn't buy the book. That would have been so much worse.
    • 3/5
      Supposedly based on real events, this fictionalized recounting of Loretta Young’s love life (the parts in between boyfriends are efficiently summarized or omitted altogether) is breezy, diverting, and charming – nothing that you’ll remember a day later, but a perfect beach read. Trigiani delivers a “happy parts only” depiction of Hollywood in its early years, in which every conversation is witty, everyone is on their very best behavior, and it never, ever rains. You need not worry about sordid details like casting couches, narcissism, professional jealousy, drugs, greed, fraud, financial skullduggery, moral lapses, or exploitation … the worst you’ll encounter here is adultery, a couple of messy divorces (told at second-hand, to minimize any genuine pain or humiliation), and a couple of children born out of wedlock. Why Young, instead of some other starlet of the era? Apparently because her life intersected at least two of Hollywood’s most charming leading men, Spenser Tracy and Clark Gable. Both, alas, are married when they meet her, which creates what little tension/plot there is in this tale. As noted above, everyone here is depicted through rose-colored lenses: Young is kind, intelligent, and empathetic; Spenser is self-deprecating, funny and sensitive; Gable is a rugged, everyman-type outdoorsman, as generous as he is larger-than-life. A typical scene opens with Gable doing something manly (hauling in a marlin or chopping wood), followed by pages of witty banter, concluding with a bit of winsome introspection by Young as she updates the status of her heart based on the interaction. There’s also a subplot involving Young’s private secretary, a former nun by the name of Alda, but Alda’s impact on Young’s life or decisions is minimal: she’s mostly here to give Young someone to discuss her feelings with.My only major disappointment is that the novel doesn’t contain more authentic detail about the early film industry. But perhaps this is the price that Trigiani pays for keeping this breezy and starlit – it would be impossible to present a realistic depiction of Hollywood without at least a nod to the sordid bits. So, while we are introduced to a range of directors and bit stars, don’t expect to learn any more about them than you might glean from a typical fan magazine of the era. But don’t let this discourage you: just because you may prefer a diet of complex red wines the rest of the time doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take the time to appreciate a flute of happy, uncomplicated champagne now and then, and All the Stars in the Heavens is nothing if not a glass of sparkling champagne.
    • 3/5
      Pandemic read. Good interweaving of the back story of Trigiani's great uncle and aunt, and Loretta Young and her loves.
    • 4/5
      I didn't know what this book was about. I started reading it and though... UGH. Hollywood?? Well.. I love this author, so I figured- why not give it a try?

      LOVED THIS! It was about the golden age of Hollywood- specifically the "coming of age" of Loretta Young through the eyes of her secretary. Sounds dumb? It was TERRIFIC! Tracy and Gable and all of their women and secrets and the wonderful Young family.
    • 4/5
      Digital audiobook performed by Blair Brown3.5*** Historical fiction based on real-life Hollywood drama: the love affair between Loretta Young and Clark Gable that resulted in a love child.I like Trigiani’s writing. I like the way she draws the reader in and moves the story forward. Because I already knew the basics of this story I did feel somewhat impatient to “get on with it.” And yet, the “will they / won’t they” (or more accurately, “when and how will they”) did add to the tension and kept me turning pages. I really liked the secondary story of Alda and Luca – two people who met because of their work with the movies and the movie stars. Their steady love story is a direct contrast to the multiple relationships / marriages / breakups / divorces of the Hollywood stars. I was also happy to learn more details of the intricate relationships between Hollywood legends such as Spencer Tracy, David Niven, Jean Harlow and Carole Lombard. And to get a peek at the difficulties of filming on location. Reading this book made me recall all those movies I watched with my mother on TCM, “wasting” half a day (or more) sitting up in her bed with coffee and cinnamon rolls, entertained by the glamour of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Blair Brown does a marvelous job of performing the audiobook. A trained actress, she really brings the characters to life. And I’m glad she didn’t try to imitate the distinctive voices of the Hollywood legends.
    • 4/5
      A good read. Told through the eyes of various characters, and based on some truth, but also embellished and fictionalized. At the center of the story is the actress Loretta Young, her career, her family, her life and loves. The character of Alda, Young's secretary, who tells much of the story, is fictitious, but perhaps based on one or more real characters. Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, David Niven, and others make appearances in the novel as well. I would say the motion picture industry is also a "character" in the book--the "golden age" of movies, and the complicated life and world of a young actress hungry for all that golden age could offer.
    • 4/5
      It's the 1930s and while the rest of America is suffering through the Great Depression, Hollywood is having its Golden Age. Alda Ducci is an Italian immigrant and would-be nun who is told by her Mother Superior that she doesn't have what it takes to join the convent for good. Instead, she is recommended by a Catholic priest to become a secretary to a young Hollywood actress, Loretta Young. Alda helps Loretta through thick and thin as she makes pictures, falls in and out of love, and struggles with some of the biggest decisions of her life. Along the way, Alda falls in love with the world of Hollywood too, or more specifically, is enamored by a studio scene painter. This book is based at least in part on the facts of Loretta Young's life, with a particular interest in her relationship with Clark Gable and the fallout from that. However, many scenes and even some persons are completely fictional. One of my thoughts on finishing this book is that I must track down which details are true and which aren't; which are good suppositions based on what is known and which are simply Trigiani's imagination at work. While the writing craft itself leaves a bit to be desired (e.g., redundancies, large gaps in time that aren't explained, characters with little fleshing out, etc.), the story is compelling enough that this is a fairly quick read, despite its length. The story is framed within a modern-day section about a young artist who casually mentions her family had roots in Hollywood. It's worth noting that she is not telling the story, which is one reason why I found this framing device completely unnecessary. The second reason is that it introduced people and places at the very start of the book that are not visited again to the very last few pages. It made the novel's introduction a bit rocky, but once it started going in earnest, the book did pick up considerably. Throughout the book, Trigiani switches perspectives so that we see events from the point of view of Alda, Loretta, Clark, etc. Personally, I think she could have just stuck with Alda and Loretta, thus reducing repetitious parts and allowing the reader to see more of these two main characters throughout their lives instead of rushing over certain parts. Blair Brown, the reader for the audiobook version, was overall pretty good. She did an excellent job with specific characters (e.g., Alda, Gladys, Nivens, Hattie) of making their voices very distinct and, when relevant, as true to life as possible to their real voices. However, with such a wide range of characters popping in and out of the book, there were times when some of the voices became less distinct. This could become problematic when two characters were in a dialogue together and it would become less clear who was speaking.Fans of Trigiani's other works will be sure to flock to this book (if they haven't already). Historical fiction fans, and particularly those of us who grew up on old Hollywood movies, may also enjoy this title.
    • 3/5
      Well written - Trigiani excels at description, putting the reader in the story - and very good audio narrator (Blair Brown), but overall too long and full of regrets.
    • 1/5
      Trigiani is one of my favorite authors and I am saddened that I just couldn't get into this book. I tried twice, the second time I made it a 100 pages and was just so bored of all the Hollywood descriptions and hungry for anymore of Alda's story. I'd decided to look at some reviews from other readers to see if I was off-base. Many reviews confirmed my feelings on the book as well and I made the decision that not every step up to the plate can be a homerun and take the strike count on this one and walk away. Trigiani is just too damn good for me to give up on though, I will be front and center for her next book.
    • 3/5
      A portrayal of a strong woman in an industry that consumed its productive talents. Loretta Young stars with Clark Gable and falls in love. On a long, isolated movie shoot they have an affair that results in a pregnancy. But in the days of the Hays Code a moral indiscretion could ruin a star, especially a woman. Loretta waits vainly for Gable to divorce so that they can marry. Their daughter must wait years for the truth. I found the numerous changes of point of view unsettling. Trigiani also frequently tells, rather than shows. While entry to her character's inner lives is essential to the novel it does feel overdone.
    • 3/5
      This overlong, syrupy sweet book could have been so much better. It tells the story of certain actors in Hollywood in the Golden Age. Chief among them are Loretta Young and Clark Gable. They were costars in Call of the Wild and spent weeks on location near Bellingham Washington shooting. According to this book Loretta and Clark became lovers although Clark was married. Loretta became pregnant with Clark's child and given the time, middle 1930s, she had to hide the pregnancy and the child. Supposedly Clark was trying to get a divorce so he could marry Loretta but his wife held out. Clark saw his daughter, Judy, once soon after her birth but did not contribute to her upbringing or try to have any further relationship. He did get a divorce but then married Carole Lombard. Loretta married a businessman and had two boys by him but the marriage was not a happy one. Judy was never told Gable was her father until after his death when she confronted her mother with the rumours she had heard. Young tells Judy that her father loved her very much but that seems rather doubtful. After Loretta's and Judy's deaths Loretta's son and daughter-in-law revealed that Loretta had told them that Gable had raped her and that they never did have an affair. Whether that is the truth or not it certainly seems like a more interesting angle for a book than this treacly waste of time.
    • 2/5
      I finished the book because I like Adriana Trigiani generally and her books are fast reads but I found it very frustrating. I don't know why anyone would romanticize date rape.
    • 3/5
      Adriana Trigiani is one of my favorite storyteller and has written historical fiction based on fact. I would love to believe that Gable and Young fell in love on the set of their movie, Call of the Wild; but after reading Loretta came out publicly saying she was date raped by Mr. Gable I am not convinced. Hollywood in the 1930's was so different than today. The morale clause in the studio contract would have destroyed their career.The reader will make their conclusion after reading this book, I did.
    • 1/5
      This is the first Trigiani I have read and I am not inclined to pick up another. Having looked at some of the other reviews (by people who have read a lot of her work) I can't help but feel that this book is not up to her usual standard.
      I'll keep this simple - here are a few reasons why you should read this book:
      1. You are a Trigiani fan
      2. You want to read about how Golden Age movies were made.
      3. You have difficulty understanding emotional reactions and would like a book to over explain every one of them.
      4. You enjoy characters reflecting on all the things you just read about (it's just a bit repetitive)
      5. You like stories that are heavy-handedly and unashamedly overwrought.

      Reasons you should not read this book:
      1. See reasons 1, 3, 4, & 5 above.
      2. You should also not read this book expecting an accurate representation of Loretta Young's life - there are a couple of glaring errors which really annoyed me (I know this is fiction and the writer can take liberties but I feel when you are dealing with real people and events you have some responsibility to the truth). The first issue I have is the timeline: Trigiani has Loretta shooting Man's Castle (and falling in love with Spencer Tracy) in 1934 when this movie was released in 1933. She also has Loretta moving straight to shooting Call of the Wild (and falling in love with Clark Gable) after Man's Castle when she in fact made at least 6 movies between the two and there was at least an 18 month gap. The other issue I have is Loretta supposedly never really gets over Gable - It's like Trigiani really wanted them to be in love and has forced it into her novel (Completely ignoring the claims Young made to family members in the 1990's that she had been date raped by Gable).
      4.The constant use of full names Clark Gable, David Niven, etc. every time. It's like Trigiani is worried that if she just uses first names we might forget that these people are MOVIE STARS! and not just people.
    • 4/5
      I'm a huge fan of anything Adriana Trigiani writes - and while I enjoyed this book, I felt like it was lacking in some ways. I feel like maybe it suffered from too much editing - I could have used another 100 pages or so to really flesh out the story. It was like she wasn't sure if she wanted to tell the story of Loretta or of Alda and ended up doing neither of them justice.The book definitely could have benefitted from a deeper exploration of the friendship between the two women. Still, a lovely read about 1930's Hollywood - Trigiani's descriptions of the movie business were wonderfully written and left me wanting to find some of those old movies as soon as possible.
    • 4/5
      ALL THE STARS IN THE HEAVENS by Adriana TrigianiAlthough the main characters are named Clark Gable and Loretta Young, this book is much more fiction than history. Loretta Young and Clark Gable did have a child out of wedlock (probably) that was later “adopted” by Loretta and that is the extent of the “historical” part of the love story. That said, the book is quite fascinating for the many stories of the beginning of the movie industry in Hollywood. Loretta and Clark were stars in the twenties, thirties and forties. Clark’s movie popularity extended until his death in 1960 reaching its zenith with Gone with Wind. Both Gable and Young were Academy Awards winners for best actor. Young’s career in films slowed considerably in the 1950’s, but she moved to television and achieved great success there also.The interesting characters of Alda (Young’s assistant and friend) and her husband (a gifted movie scene painter) are entirely fictional. Nonetheless they bring life to the behind the scenes episodes of movie making and are well rounded. Movie aficionados will like seeing the sketches of famous actors, directors, producers and other Hollywood folk interspersed throughout the book. At nearly 500 pages the book is too long and needed some judicious editing. Many of the scenes detailing Young’s opinions and thoughts, especially concerning Gable, are repetitious and boring.4 of 5 stars
    • 2/5
      This was the first Adriana Trigiani book I've read, and it's likely to be the last. Oddly written, with dull characters and switching points of view, including an omniscient narrator that seemed to be lecturing the reader about how the old Hollywood system worked, and how the main characters had to feel the way they did. The author was very much telling, not showing, and it was SO BORING. I checked this book out from the library as a 1-week "rental". So I paid $1.50 up front to check this book out. It was such a slow read, I had to literally force myself to finish it, which I didn't do until 8 days past the due date, so I racked up another $3 in fines. This was a complete and utter waste of nearly $5. At least I didn't buy the book. That would have been so much worse.
    • 3/5
      The Good StuffBrings flesh and life to a forgotten scandalous event that happened during the golden age of moviesAuthor obviously did some serious research into this one and you can also feel her love for her subject matterLoved reading about a couple of my favorites, David Niven and Hattie McDaniel and lets face it that time in Hollywood history was so very fascinatingMade me feel for those involved in the movie industry could never be themselves Loved the banter between Gable and McDaniel - seriously this would have been so risque in anywhere but Hollywood during the time. A black woman flirting with a white man - in anywhere else this would have been shocking to people (Makes me love Hollywood a little and Gable a little bit more)Enjoyed learning a bit more about Loretta Young Some absolutely beautiful poetic writing at timesEvery scene with David Niven is a delight, hoping he was as wonderful in real lifeThe scenes between Alda and Loretta are the heart of the storyMade me want to do some research into Clark Gable, Loretta Young, Spencer Tracy and David NivenSad how an actress could get pregnant an lose everything, but nothing would happen to the actor who got her pregnantThe Not So Good StuffAt times it just feels like the author is just telling you what the characters are doing and feeling rather than having the story flowI do have a problem when someone one gives thoughts and feelings to a real life person - not a bad thing, its just something I have a hard time coming to grips withMan Loretta Young married such a jerk, for such a talented actress she really had no sense when it came to menFavorite Quotes/Passages"You can cut the 'sir' stuff."The deckhand swallowed hard. "But I'm British, Mr Gable. We sir from the start.""A ditch digger with a British Accent could walk through the gates of MGM, and Louis B. Mayer would sign him up. An American ditch digger would walk through the same gate and be escorted off the lot. There's something about you people. You sound like you have culture.""That's why there are so many babies in the world. It's called winter.""The movies, for a paying customer, could be entertaining and uplifting, but for those who worked on the inside, there was a seven-day-a-week grind with little reprieve from impossible schedules and demanding talent.""A good father doesn't make a child feel unsafe, unworthy and unwanted and your husband made me feel all those things and still does.""Nobody thinks about the children," Alda said. "I know they're matinee idols, but they're real and they have lives, and their children have feelings."3.5 Dewey'sI received this at the HarperCollins Indigo Fall Preview Event & I don't have to review - but I like to share and Cory and Shannon do such a fabulous job of highlighting their books, I want to share - even though this one wasn't my favourite
    • 5/5
      Reading Adriana Trigiani's newest novel All The Stars In The Heavens feels like watching a fascinating Turner Classic Movies documentary. I felt like putting on my best peignoir, slipping on my feathered mules, applying the reddest shade of lipstick, and mixing myself a martini garnished with olives as I dove into the story-behind-the-story of Loretta Young and Clark Gable's forbidden Hollywood romance while reclining on my bedroom chaise.Loretta Young was a hardworking, well-known young actress when she was cast as the thirteen-years-older Clark Cable's love interest in the movie The Call of The Wild. The movie was to be shot on location in a remote area near Seattle.Young's assistant, the former-almost-nun-until-she-was-told-by-Mother-Superior-that-she-was-not-nun-material Alda Ducci accompanied Loretta. They were among the very few women on the set, so they managed to attract the attentions of more than a few of the men.Clark Gable avidly pursued Loretta, even though he was married. Loretta had just ended a romantic, though chaste, relationship with actor Spencer Tracy and even though she had a reputation for falling a little bit in love with her leading men, she was determined not to do so with Gable.She resisted until she couldn't anymore, and when Loretta and Gable traveled to Seattle to be witnesses to a wedding between Alda and a set painter after a whirlwind romance, she gave in.The affair had long-lasting consequences, and although Gable promised that he was going to divorce his wife to be with Loretta, he strung Loretta along. Loretta had a career to worry about, and home wrecker would not look good in the tabloids or on her resume.There were so many things I loved about All The Stars In The Heavens, it could be a multi-part post, but I will just touch on the highlights.The novel takes real people and a true story and imagines what really happened, and those kind of stories I find irresistible when done well, and Trigiani aims high and hits a home run here. I love Hollywood behind-the-scenes-stories, and to see a different side of have such unforgettable characters as Young, Gable, a young David Niven, Spencer Tracy, Myrna Loy and Hattie McDaniel was thrilling.The scene with Gable and Hattie McDaniel on the set of Saratoga, the 1937 movie where Jean Harlow died on set, made me giddy. We see their bantering and flirting, and now I remember why I loved the scenes between Mammy and Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind so much. (GWTW is my favorite movie!)Women in Trigiani's books are strong women, and always strive to have a career. Here we see that Loretta worked hard to support her mother and sisters, and invested her money in real estate. How many women (or men) in Hollywood were smart enough to do that? Loretta's mother, a single mom, had to raise her four daughters, and built a stellar career in real estate investment and interior design. She was a terrific example for her girls, and Trigiani's protagonists are good examples for women to work hard and follow their dreams to get ahead.I could go on and on, but I'll just tell you that I loved that Trigiani has stepped up her already stellar game in All The Stars In The Heavens, and you will lose yourself in a dazzling Hollywood love story that will have you googling Loretta Young/Clark Cable to find out the story that inspired this gorgeous novel. I give it my highest recommendation.
    • 5/5
      Let me start by saying I love everything I've read by Adriana Trigiani. First introduced to her writing at the Trans-Allegheny Bookstore in Parkersburg, WV, and since then picking up everything I see with her name on the cover. This latest work is a fictionalized biography of movie/radio/tv star Loretta Young, and centers on her conflicted relationship with Clark Gable, her co-star in the 1935 movie Call of the Wild. While this is, indeed, fiction, it reads like a particularly well-written biography, one I thoroughly enjoyed.