Description

New York Times bestselling author Daisy Goodwin returns with a story of the scandalous love affair between the most celebrated opera singer of all time and one of the richest men in the world.

‘An extraordinary, vivid, and skilful re-imagining of a modern Greek legend’ – Victoria Hislop

In the glittering and ruthlessly competitive world of opera, Maria Callas is known simply as la divina: the divine one. With her glorious voice, instinctive flair for the dramatic and striking beauty, she’s the toast of the grandest opera houses in the world. Yet her fame has been hard won: raised in Nazi-occupied Greece by a mother who mercilessly exploited her, Maria learned early in life how to protect herself.

When she meets the fabulously rich shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis, her isolation melts away. For the first time in her life, she believes she’s found a man who sees the woman rather than the legendary soprano. Desperately in love, Onassis introduces her to a life of unbelievable luxury, mixing with celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

And then, suddenly, it’s over. The international press announce that Onassis will marry the most famous woman in the world, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, leaving Maria to pick up the pieces.

In this remarkable novel, Daisy Goodwin brings to life a woman whose extraordinary talent, unremitting drive and natural chic made her a legend. But it was only in confronting the heartbreak of losing the man she loved that Maria Callas found her true voice.

‘I gulped it down… the brilliantly persuasive portrayal of a woman negotiating the demands of her art with an intense emotional life is so compelling’ – Elizabeth Buchan

Publisher Review

I was blown away by Diva. Beautiful, visceral, tragic, gutting — Miranda Cowley Heller * #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Paper Palace * The spectacular Daisy Goodwin has written Diva, an epic novel about Maria Callas in love that hits every note and soars off the page. You will root for Callas as she navigates her dynamic career and a love affair that will break her heart. Told with tenderness and power, this is bravura storytelling in the hands of a master — Adriana Trigiani Elegant, adult, ultimately very moving, Diva presents an amazingly convincing Maria, while always conveying the power of the majestic Callas myth — Laura Thompson I’ve been completely overwhelmed by Diva: by the pleasure of reading such a marvellous ardent, romantic, yet utterly worldly book… Quick, where are my Callas records… — Lady Antonia Fraser With its glamour, celebrity and heartbreak, this is the unstoppable story of ambition and desire that enchantress Daisy Goodwin was born to write — Lucy Worsley Daisy Goodwin’s richly imagined world makes Diva an irresistible page-turner. Blending high drama with an artist’s eye for detail, Goodwin breathes life into one of the greatest and most tragic stars of the 20th century. Whether you’re an opera aficionado or simply love an epic tale of love and ambition, Diva is a pure delight — Dr. Amanda Foreman Daisy Goodwin is a genius storyteller, fashioning the most delicious, insider gossip into a tale full of heartbreak, love, ambition and brutal disappointment — Nina de Gramont Maria Callas was the greatest opera singer of all time, a woman whose miraculous performances were an alchemical compound of power and vulnerability, perfectionism and emotional risk-taking. Her private life was no less conflicted or dramatic. Based on her true story, this page-turner is a must read for fans of Daisy Goodwin’s fiction — Lucasta Miller Daisy Goodwin has brought back to life the legendary diva and the untold story of her love affair with Onassis sparkles and captivates like the jewels he lavished on her — Shane Watson A sumptuous, accomplished novel… Diva takes us deep inside Maria Callas’s emotional journey, and hits the high notes of both glamour and tragedy — Jane Thynne I gulped it down… the brilliantly persuasive portrayal of a woman negotiating the demands of her art with an intense emotional life is so compelling — Elizabeth Buchan It’s got everything: high drama; great love, found and lost; gossip of the rich and famous and, of course, the sublime art of Maria Callas — Cressida Connolly An extraordinary, vivid, and skilful re-imagining of a modern Greek legend — Victoria Hislop A brilliant novel… Goodwin tells the story with tenderness and captures the contradictions of Callas; powerful, ferocious, a woman who created her own glamorous identity but who was also desperate, used, abused and abandoned. — Dorothy Byrne A jewel of a novel — Rose Tremain