Strangers in the Night by Heather Webb

Publishes March 21, 2023-William Morrow-432pp

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Heather Webb’s Strangers in the Night paints a portrait of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner’s tumultuous relationship with bold, startling strokes layered with tender, revealing highlights. With massive amounts of resources and meticulous research Webb creates a biographical novel that reads like a diary, told alternately from Frank and Ava’s point of view. Readers cross countries with Ava, Frank usually following, from America, to England, Africa, and Spain. The years spanning the 1940’s to 1960’s cover their individual highs; marriages, movies, and enormous achievements, and lows; deaths of friends, divorces, and attempted suicides.

Heather Webb’s characters are portrayed in situations with intense emotional dialogue and interactions, including fights, breakups, and making up! It’s exhausting to imagine that Frank and Ava lived and loved for so many years riding on such a rollercoaster of feelings and events. Webb entwines the drastic swings in their relationship contrasting heartwarming strolls along the sidewalks of NYC at Christmas with loud, disturbing arguments in restaurants along with pages, and pages more of loving or volatile adventures; all of which involve copious amounts of alcohol.

Heather’s recounting of Frank and Ava describing each other is especially inciteful for readers. Frank on why he fell in love, “It was how she wore her beauty; her intelligence, wit, and generous laugh.” And Ava described Frank as “raucous and edgy but tender, passionate, loved music, books, and art.” Both really simple and tender at heart.

While strong, independent Ava’s career is blossoming Frank’s is faltering. Hollywood friends like Howard Hughes, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and Grace Kelly have positive and negative impacts on their relationship and careers.

Frank and Ava made over sixty movies each, so plenty of viewing choices. After reading Strangers in the Night, do add Frank’s From Here to Eternity and Ava’s Mogambo to your watch list. Next choose a Frank Sinatra playlist to imagine Frank telling Ava one more time, “I love you, baby”.