Diva

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What to expect

Bloomsbury presents Diva by Daisy Goodwin, read by Lorelei King, Josephine Goddard and Daisy Goodwin.

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.

Critics Review

I was blown away by Diva. Beautiful, visceral, tragic, gutting
#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
This powerful reimagining of the soprano’s toxic relationship with the Greek shipping tycoon captures the drama and heartbreak of one of the most celebrated singers of all time
The Observer
Imbued with pace, intrigue and flair... a novel worthy of its superstar heroine
Mail on Sunday
A heartbreaking, insightful and compelling read
Woman's Weekly
The lifestyle of the wealthy and the adoration of the musical world are set in contrast to Maria’s inner turmoil and her strength as she struggles to overcome betrayal. The author presents it all with clarity, empathy, and insight, and combines high drama with meticulous detail
Historical Novel Society
If you're marooned in chilly Blighty craving escape, I recommend a headlong plunge into Diva, Daisy Goodwin’s seductive saga about the tempestuous affair of stellar operatic goddess Maria Callas and obscenely rich shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis
Vanessa Feltz, Daily Express

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