The Lonely Lady

From the author of The New York Times #1 bestselling novel The Carpetbaggers comes the gutwrenching story of one woman's battle to break free of the male-dominated, sexual pay-to-play culture of Hollywood.... THE LONELY LADY JeriLee Randall is a young girl with dreams of being a writer. While she is discovering her own sexuality, she meets Walter Thornton, Jr., son of the world-famous playwright, Walter Thornton, Sr., whom she idolizes. After a humiliating "near" sexual encounter with JeriLee, Walt, Jr. participates in a brutal assault that traumatizes her and triggers unfettered chaos in their small, gossipy town. Trying to make amends for the deplorable behavior of his son, Walt's father befriends JeriLee. Despite their age difference the two become close and eventually marry. Inevitably, their union unravels, and JeriLee embarks on a path of sexual liberation in her pursuit of success-from stints in sleazy strip clubs to rendezvous on the casting couches of Hollywood moguls and eventually to the twilight world of drugs-moving restlessly from man to man and woman to woman. Can she find success in a brutal world while retaining her dignity, honesty, and the self-respect developed in her youth? As she struggles to retain her dreams of stardom, can her strength and cunning save her from Hollywood's death grip, allowing her to beat the smooth talking power players at their own game? When it was originally published in 1976, The Lonely Lady spent 24 weeks on the bestseller list, turning Hollywood on its ear. Could anyone have predicted then that JeriLee's story would still be so shockingly relevant over forty years later? Harold Robbins (1916-1997) is one of the best-selling American fiction writers of all time, ranking 5th on the World's Best-Selling Fiction Author List just behind William Shakespeare and Agatha Christie. He wrote over 25 best-selling novels, sold more than 750 million copies in 42 languages and spent over 300 weeks combined on The New York Times bestsellers list. His books were adapted into 13 commercially successful films and also television series that garnered numerous Oscar, Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy nominations starring Steve McQueen, Elvis Presley, Laurence Olivier, Bette Davis, Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, and more. The self-proclaimed "world's best writer in plain English," Robbins wrote novels that resonated with audiences due to their graphic depictions of sex, violence, power and drugs, and the multilayered complexities of his characters, as evidenced by his best-selling novels Never Love a Stranger, The Carpetbaggers, Where Love Has Gone, and The Adventurers. He once said in an interview: "People make their own choices every day about what they are willing to do. We don't have the right to judge them or label them. At least walk in their shoes before you do." Robbins' personal life was as fascinating to the public as his novels. An enthusiastic participant in the social and sexual revolution of the 1960s, Robbins cultivated a "playboy" image and maintained friendships with stars including Frank Sinatra, Clint Eastwood, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dino De Laurentiis, Robert Evans, Ringo Starr, Barbara Eden, Lena Horne, and Quincy Jones, and was one of the first novelists to be prominently featured in gossip magazines, earning him the title of "The World's First Rock Star Author."