Gill Hornby

She Can Do No Wrong

Notorious: The Life of Ingrid Bergman

By

HarperCollins 474pp £20 order from our bookshop

This is the story of a woman who many liked to think of as a saint, but whose messy private life dominated the press and damaged her reputation; a girl who, after an insecure childhood, rushed into early marriage with an older man; a beauty who captivated the world, but who was never appreciated by her husband; a slender clotheshorse, whose secret eating disorder would cause her weight to swing by 20lbs in a few weeks; a star who felt ‘helpless’ at home, who had to work and travel, because only then could she ‘express myself freely, and people would listen’.

Sign Up to our newsletter

Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.

Follow Literary Review on Twitter

  • Last Tweets

    • Why did the 'bold and determined' Empress Matilda never manage to become Queen regnant? Peter Marshall reviews a n… ,
    • From the Archive: Martyn Bedford on Ian McEwan's 'Atonement' ,
    • In 'Silenced Voices' reports the ongoing story of the human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has been… ,
    • The mystery of Jack the Ripper's identity has long been agonised over. But what do we know about his victims?… ,
    • A piece of Literary Review history from way back in 1983: John Haffenden talks to the great Iris Murdoch. ,
    • Britain’s only travelling lit fest, the Garden Museum Literary Festival is heading to Houghton Hall, Norfolk, for a… ,
    • 'The 19th-century German sage is not my idea of a pleasant travel companion' goes hiking with Friedr… ,
    Follow Us