Where Madness Lies

The Double Life of Vivien Leigh

Lyndsy Spence

Beginning in 1953, when Leigh suffers a nervous breakdown, Where Madness Lies tells the moving story of the actress as she attempts to rebuild her life, salvage her career, and save her marriage.

Vivien Leigh was one of the greatest film and theatrical stars of the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s. Her Oscar-winning performances in Gone With the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire have cemented her status as an icon of Hollywood.

From 1940 to 1960, Leigh was married to Sir Laurence Olivier, and together they were considered the royal couple of British theatre. Indeed, their romance and acting partnerships captured the imagination of the public around the world.

Behind the scenes, however, Leigh’s personal life was marred by manic depression that remained undiagnosed until 1953. Largely misunderstood and subjected to barbaric mistreatment at the hands of her doctors, she would also suffer the heartbreak of Olivier’s infidelity. Contributing to her image as a tragic heroine, she would die at the age of fifty-three.

Unlike previous biographies, Where Madness Lies begins in 1953 when Leigh suffered a nervous breakdown and was institutionalized. The tragic story unfolds as she tries to rebuild her life, salvage her career, and save her marriage.

Featuring a wealth of unpublished material—including private correspondence—Lyndsy Spence reveals how this Hollywood luminary tragically fell victim to the draconian medical practices of the era.

Lyndsy Spence is an author, historian, and screenwriter who specializes in writing about daring women. She is the founder of The Mitford Society and her books in Britain include The Mitford Girls’ Guide to Life; The Grit in the Pearl: The Scandalous Life of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll; The Mistress of Mayfair: Men, Money, and the Marriage of Doris Delevingne, and Cast a Diva: The Hidden Life of Maria Callas. Her book on Maria Callas is being adapted into a documentary by a twice-Oscar-nominated production company and Lyndsy is producing a documentary on the Latin-American icon, Selena. Where Madness Lies is her first book to be published in America. She lives in England.

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Endorsements & Reviews

"In this revealing new biography, Lyndsy Spence explores how Vivien Leigh's mental health troubles, and the awful ways in which they were treated in her era, defined a side of the star's life that didn't line up with the glitz and glamour of her public persona." Town & Country

"A fiery and powerful read. In a market crowded with full-length biographies of Vivien Leigh, Lyndsy Spence wisely refrains from adding another one. Instead she focuses on the years 1953–67, covering the period when Leigh was beginning to lose her grip on reality due to an escalation of bipolar illness." The Times Literary Supplement

"Biographer Spence delivers a moving account of British actor Vivien Leigh’s struggle with mental illness in the 14 years before her death. Spence has a novelist’s flair for pacing and detail. Spence succeeds in bringing Leigh to vivid life." Publishers Weekly

"A sensitively drawn portrait of a Hollywood icon whose on-screen persona belied the troubled woman who struggled with mental illness. Drawing from numerous letters and personal papers, Spence starts with the events of 1953 and weaves back and forth through the high and low points, juxtaposing Leigh’s on– and off–stage and screen lives." Booklist

“A sympathetic description of Leigh’s ‘perturbing nature’; an analysis of her numerous breakdowns, when she was in the grip of manic-depressive cycles –– the high spirits and crushing melancholia, when ‘everything inside her brain was white noise.’ Spence’s biography is powerful and illuminating. It also confirms my creeping suspicion that, at this distance, Leigh was a better, more intimate and instinctive performer than Olivier.” The Spectator (UK)