My Double Life: The autobiography of Sarah Bernhardt

Sarah Bernhardt embodied -- and indeed, in many ways, invented -- the persona of the superstar actress. During her life and after her death, she was constantly the center of a swirl of drama, attention, controversy and emotional display, both on and off the stage--and she did everything she could to keep the swirl swirling, fanning the winds and the breezes in all possible ways.

The one thing that cannot be denied about her is her extraordinary ability as an actress. Even George Bernard Shaw...