Savage Beauty

The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay

By: Nancy Milford

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

Length: 24 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Savage Beauty is the portrait of a passionate, fearless woman who obsessed America even as she tormented herself.

If F. Scott Fitzgerald was the hero of the Jazz Age, Edna St. Vincent Millay, as flamboyant in her love affairs as she was in her art, was its heroine. A winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Millay was dazzling in the performance of herself. Her voice was likened to an instrument of seduction, and her impact on crowds and on men was legendary. Yet beneath her studied act, all was not well.

Milford calls her book “a family romance" - for the love between the three Millay sisters and their mother was so deep as to be dangerous. As a family, they were like real-life Little Women, with a touch of Mommie Dearest.

Nancy Milford was given exclusive access to Millay’s papers, and what she found was an extraordinary treasure. Boxes and boxes of letters flew back and forth among the three sisters and their mother - and Millay kept the most intimate diary, one whose ruthless honesty brings to mind Sylvia Plath.

Written with passion and flair, Savage Beauty is an iconic portrait of a woman’s life.

©2001 Nancy Winston Milford (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Fascinating Woman

Edna St Vincent Millay was a fascinating woman of exceptional intelligence and talent. It's impossible to imagine a poet achieving her level of fame today. Her life was wildly interesting--from her poverty-stricken childhood to her intense relationship with her mother (a character worthy of her own biography) to her marriage and many affairs with men and women to, finally, her slide into alcoholism and addiction.

Milford's biography is detailed and unusual. She includes testy conversations she had with Millay's elderly sister, the gatekeeper of Millay's literary estate, and exhaustive records of Millay's own notes on her use of morphine. I was never bored, but I ended the book feeling as if Milford hadn't quite brought to life Millay's personality and psychology as she did with Zelda Fitzgerald. Especially in the book's second half, she seems to be assembling and printing up her massive research materials rather than interpreting them. The first half seems more fully digested.

Even so, I was VERY happy to have listened to this. I was captivated and haunted. I found the reader easy to listen to and appropriately expressive. (It would be odd to be too dramatic in reading a serious biography.)

Exquisitely revealing

A wonderful book read with great care and feeling. After listening to this book I feel I really know Edna St. Vincent Millay. I recommend it highly.

Maine Author

I haven't been drawn into a story like this in so long. It saddens me that it's over.

Fascinating life

I have enjoyed Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poetry for many years, but knew little of her life. During her lifetime, however, it appears the reverse was true for her contemporary audience. The biography is an excellent portrait of a woman who lived by her own rules at a time when this was simply not done. Her story is ultimately tragic, as is true for so many artists. It is well written and researched. My only criticism is that it is too long.

A vivid story from another century

The author includes a lot of poetry in the text, so that you can understand how very beautiful Millay’s work continues to be. We also get substantial quotes from her correspondence, which funny, emotional, and sharp. It brings you close to the subject, as you can hear her own voice. Another component is the ongoing conversation between the author and Millay’s youngest sister, which bridges past and present. A very satisfying narrative.