A treasure trove of previously unseen love letters between Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, spanning their courtship through I Love Lucy fame and beyond, tells the couple’s real-life love story in their own words, alongside rare photos from the family scrapbooks. After Lucille Ball’s death in 1989, dozens of private letters between Lucy and Desi Arnaz were discovered. Now, for the first time, daughter Lucie Arnaz shares the complete collection in this remarkable volume that reveals the romance of one of the most famous couples in history more intimately than anything that has ever been written about them. At turns the letters disclose longing, ambition, jealousy, humor, and, above all, a passionate love affair that has claimed the world’s interest for more than half a century. This extraordinary collection takes readers back to America during World War II, to the lives of a young couple in the early years of their relationship, with budding careers in Hollywood that were still far from their heyday as the nation’s top stars. Each letter contains a bit of history as they talk about where they are, what they are doing, and what is going on in the world around them—whether it be a wardrobe fitting with a celebrated designer, remembering the last sensuous night they spent together, or trying to buy just the right refrigerator to please your mother-in-law during wartime rationing. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz weremarried from 1940 to 1960, and while the bulk of the letters were written in the early 1940s, the compendium reflects their entire relationship, from an early courtship, through long periods of separation due to work and world events, to a bittersweet end after nearly two decades. This stunning book takes readers as close as possible to the actual letters by featuring reproductions complete with envelopes, stamps, postmarks, and Lucy and Desi's own custom stationery. Further illustrated by rare photos from the Arnaz family scrapbooks, this volume is a revelatory look at a complicated and captivating love story that will amaze even longtime fans who think they have seen it all.
