All the Stars in the Heavens

by Adriana Trigiani

Overview

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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062319210
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/13/2015
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	71,266
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

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.

Editorial Reviews

09/14/2015
Trigiani’s newest fictionalizes Loretta Young’s life, both through her eyes and those of an invented personal secretary, whose closeness with the actress ties the narrative threads together. The author’s (The Shoemaker’s Wife) impeccable research and lush writing style recreates a plausible day-to-day look into the actress’s life as a staunch Catholic living and working in Hollywood, beginning in the days of the Hays Code of 1930, which imposed strict moral rules on film content. The focus is on Young’s close relationship with her mother and sisters, her affair with Spencer Tracy, her close friendship with David Niven, and most of all, her rumored romance with the married Clark Gable while shooting The Call of the Wild on location, as well as the extraordinary measures she went through to hide the subsequent pregnancy at a time when adultery and a child out of wedlock destroyed careers. Trigiani mines her own Italian roots with the character Alda Ducci, a young woman with her own secrets, who, as Loretta’s secretary and friend, navigates the trials of love and fame with her. Eminently readable and richly imagined, Trigiani’s latest will thrill her fans and surely collect new ones. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

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

“Trigiani is a master of palpable and visual detail.” — Washington Post

“If you’re meeting her work for the first time, get ready for a lifelong love affair.” — Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help

“Delightful, energetic. . . . Trigiani is a seemingly effortless storyteller.” — Boston Globe

“The author’s impeccable research and lush writing style recreates a plausible day-to-day look into the actress’s life as a staunch Catholic living and working in Hollywood... Eminently readable and richly imagined, Trigiani’s latest will thrill her fans and surely collect new ones.” — Publishers Weekly

“Trigiani re-creates the golden age of Hollywood with the same rich, sumptuous detail that distinguished The Shoemaker’s Wife. Her ability to breathe life into the luminous cast of characters will captivate readers, then have them scouring Netflix for film classics of the 1930s. A tinsel-trimmed treat.” — Library Journal

Trigiani gives heart to the facts and fiction of Hollywood, and in doing so she brings life to characters we’ve only known from the motion pictures, TV screen and radio. Her book is fiction, but the story is universal. — Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS)

From the Publisher

Trigiani is a master of palpable and visual detail.

Washington Post

Delightful, energetic. . . . Trigiani is a seemingly effortless storyteller.

Boston Globe

Trigiani gives heart to the facts and fiction of Hollywood, and in doing so she brings life to characters we’ve only known from the motion pictures, TV screen and radio. Her book is fiction, but the story is universal.

Clarion-Ledger (Jackson

If you’re meeting her work for the first time, get ready for a lifelong love affair.

Kathryn Stockett

Trigiani is a master of palpable and visual detail.

Washington Post

06/01/2017
Costars Loretta Young and Clark Gable sustained a flirtation on the set of the 1935 film Call of the Wild. Young was almost two decades Gable's junior—and unattached, while Gable was married. Their onscreen chemistry didn't translate to offscreen happiness, and an unplanned pregnancy threatened the stars' careers. With the help of Alda, a former nun, who is now Young's private secretary, Young conceals her pregnancy and her child and ultimately succeeds in the studio system. VERDICT This vivid evocation of Old Hollywood captures the silver screen's golden age. For more about Gable's forbidden love affairs, check out Kate Alcott's A Touch of Stardust. (LJ 10/1/15)

Library Journal

Blair Brown's acting talents are brought center stage in her performance of this fictionalized account of the relationship between Loretta Young and Clark Gable, which began during the filming of CALL OF THE WILD in 1935. Woven throughout Young's story is that of Alda Ducci, an imagined personal secretary for the actress. Underlying Brown's animated narration is a subtle emotional tension, and the layered performance highlights the laughter and tears, loves and disappointments in Loretta's and Alda's lives. Many famous people appear in the audiobook, and Brown wisely refrains from impersonations, although each character is given a distinct voice, including a believable accent when appropriate. Listeners will be as caught up in Loretta's lively family and star-crossed romances as they are in Alda's more down-to-earth perspective. C.B.L. 2016 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2015 - AudioFile

2015-08-17
A novice nun suddenly finds herself dismissed from her convent and swept up into the heady world of Hollywood's golden age. Alda Ducci did nothing to merit exile from St. Elizabeth's Infant Hospital, a haven for unwed mothers. Indeed, Alda has worked very hard these past six years: six years of helping unwed mothers give up their babies. Six years since she fled Italy with heartaches and secrets of her own. But her mother superior is convinced that Alda can never let go of her dreams to help these poor women, so she sends her out into the world to become a private secretary to actress Loretta Young. The shift from poverty to luxury jars Alda, as well as the reader, although she endeavors to see the spiritual mission beneath the glamour. Loretta welcomes Alda into her family and her home, which she shares with her three sisters and her mother, Gladys, a talented interior designer and shrewd businesswoman. Within days, Alda has become indispensable to Loretta, and the two women bond to form an indomitable team, although Loretta steals nearly every scene. Dashing men, starry-eyed ingénues, jealous spouses—all the players are well-cast as Alda helps Loretta negotiate the studio system, the Hays Code, and thwarted romances. Loretta works hard, not simply studying her lines, but often rewriting them into a code her dyslexia understands. Yet she can't help but fall in love with her every leading man. Drawn to Spencer Tracy, Loretta must lean heavily upon her Catholic faith—and friend David Niven's humor—to avoid temptation. Clark Gable proves even more difficult to resist. Trigiani (The Supreme Macaroni Company, 2013, etc.), a filmmaker as well as a bestselling novelist, spins a tale of star-crossed lovers, yet the rather flat prose dims the glow of the silver screen. A heartwarming tale of women's lives behind the movies.

Kirkus Reviews