'Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood' book review

Natalie Wood’s mysterious death returned to the headlines in the fall of 2011, when her case was re-opened. The decision by law enforcement to review the evidence brings back memories of the unanswered questions about really happened on the night Wood died. Suzanne Finstad weaves together the facts of Wood's life and how much is still unknown about her tragic last moments.

This 2006 biography is rich in details about the life of one of Hollywood’s most glamorous actresses who lived a complex reality. Born in San Francisco to Russian immigrant parents, Natasha would grow up haunted by the words of a fortune teller. Before her birth her mother was told that she would give life to a great beauty who would become world famous but die of drowning. For her entire life, Natalie Wood was terrified of water and ironically died in the waters of the Pacific Ocean off Southern California.

Wood’s career from child star to Hollywood leading lady is a tale of a dramatic life on and off screen. Her marriages, including two to Robert Wagner, were stormy and intense. Wood’s story is intertwined with that of her ambitious mother who was determined to make her daughter a star. Through extensive interviews and journalistic research, author Suzanne Finstad outlines the unbearable life of an unbearable beauty.