That doesn't make her a lesbian, but during the years involved only the men had the freedom to express themselves and carry themselves fully as free humans. Her own demons were to fight for rights for women, normally reserved for men, to dress like a man, and surround herself with them. One imagines what Katharine Hepburn would be like in this day and age of same sex marriages and sex operations, and more therapists recognizing the mixed gender patterns of this woman. Starting with both sets of grandparents and families, thru the death of her brother Tom when she was 14, adding the strength and idiosyncrasies of her mother and aunt, the overpowering will and cold father, thru her many male companions, boyfriends, husbands to other women, to even her own brothers, a clear and defined picture of this woman emerges, human, faulty, needy, strong and vibrant, healthy, obstinate, feminine,and yet wanting to be a boy so desperately as well. Barbara Leaming has finally put all the pieces together that make up the pie of this fantastic actress. But I was always left with a yearning to understand her more, and the books left so many unexplained personality changes, her character I saw as split in 2, the ultra independent force vs the codependent, lap rug to the men in her life.
I have read a good many books about Katharine Hepburn, including her 2 autobiographies. the book should have been called "Katharine Hepburn's Family & The Men In Her Life"- it really doesn't have a whole lot to do with her. So we spend eons more on her life in terms of ford & tracy, and then they both die, so leaming rockets through kh's years after that in approximately two pages, saying that katharine kept busy in her old age with many wonderful projects, none of which are described. Holy crap did i get tired of hearing about spencer tracy.
i was fascinated by all the work kh's mom & aunt did for woman's rights, and really enjoyed reading that part, which is why the book gets 3 stars- but then leaming goes on to write katharine's own life in terms of the men she was with, as if she was defined by john ford & spencer tracy. we spend eons on katharine's ancestors and parents, and some of the information was really important for understanding kh's life- but some wasn't. it was a little dry and a lot unbalanced. Decent choice for anyone interested in hepburn's background.
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