He is Robert Vane--the greatest actor of the

English theater in a generation, dashing, hand-

some, clearly touched by genius

She is Felicia Lisle the most glamorous,

beautiful and romantic of actresses, his partner

onstage, his lover in life, whose career suddenly

brings her new fame and an Oscar as she stars in

Hollywood s most successful movie.

Together they are the greatest theater couple of

the age, their romance, onstage and off, captivat-

ing the world for nearly twenty years. But their

public performances express their love and

desire for each other better than they ever can in

private. For behind the scenes, their lives are full

of dangerous secrets and broken promises. At dae

moment of her greatest triumph, Felicia Lisle is

overcome by her own fears and by the horrors of

a past she knows she cannot keep hidden forever.

And Robert Vane, driven by his enormous ambi-

tion and haunted by the fear that he has failed to

give Felicia the love she needs and demands,

plunges into a close friendship with Randy

Brooks, America s most beloved comedian, and

into a fatal business relationship with Marty

Quick, showman, vulgarian, and full-time

womanizer.

With a love affair of incomparable passion and

rich sexuality, a background of London theater at

its grandest and Hollywood at its most decadent,

with vibrant characters whose lives will resonate

for readers, Curtain sweeps toward an inevitable

climax of bloody revenge and sacrifice echo-

ing the great Shakespearean tragedies in which

the Vanes have spent their lives.

Michael Korda combines brilliant storytelling

with a special inside perspective to create a tanta-

lizing portrayal of the scandalous lives of these

celebrated actors and their glittering circle.