Maria Callas (1923-1977) was the greatest opera diva of all time with a career that remains unmatched by any prima donna. Much of her life was overshadowed by her fiery relationship with Aristotle Onassis, who broke her heart when he left her for Jacqueline Kennedy, and her reputation was marred by legendary tantrums on and off the stage. However, little is known about Callas the woman; a girl who was brought up between New York and Greece, and who was forced to sing by her emotionally abusive mother. She left her family behind in Greece for an international career and was feted by royalty and Hollywood stars. A self-made woman, she fought sexism to rise to the top, but there was one thing she wanted but could not have: a happy private life. Fame provided celebrity and riches, but her last days were spent as a recluse in her Paris apartment, listening to her old recordings and addicted to prescription drugs. In Cast a Diva, bestselling author Lyndsy Spence reveals the incredible story of a woman who was a true feminist icon.

Margaret, Duchess of Argyll (1912-1993) was an international celebrity in her youth, adored and observed by millions. But in 1963, the year of the Profumo Affair, the 11th Duke of Argyll shocked the country when he alleged that his adulterous wife had slept with over eighty men behind his back. He produced, as his evidence, a set of sexually explicit Polaroid photographs and explosive love letters. The duke won a divorce, but this had a dramatic effect on Margaret’s life. On the verge of financial destitution, she fell from grace and was abandoned by most of her friends prior to her death in a nursing home in Pimlico in 1993.
Lyndsy Spence tells a tragic story of the life and downfall of this fascinatingly complex woman, and shows how she fell victim to a cruel husband, harsh social mores, and an unforgiving class. It uses new sources, including taped conversations, an unexpurgated transcript of her divorce trial, interviews, and letters. The Grit in the Pearl is a meticulously researched and powerful biography, which acts as a potent lens on various themes in the last century: fame, privacy, the media, sex, power, and relationships between classes.