Jane Fonda: The Private Life of a Public Woman

Bosworth goes behind the image of an American superwoman, revealing Jane Fonda—more powerful and vulnerable than ever expected—whose struggles for high achievement, love, and successful motherhood mirror the conflicts of a generation of women.

In the hands of this seasoned, tenacious biographer, the evolution of one of the century’s most controversial and successful women becomes nothing less than a great, enthralling American life.

Jane Fonda emerged from a heartbreaking Hollywood family drama to become a ’60s onscreen ingénue and then an Oscar-winning actress. At the top of her game she risked all, rising against the Vietnam War and shocking the world with a trip to Hanoi. Later, while becoming one of Hollywood’s most committed feminists, she financed her husband Tom Hayden’s political career in the ’80s with exercise videos that began a fitness craze and brought in millions of dollars. Just as interesting is Fonda’s next turn, as a Stepford Wife of the Gulfstream set, marrying Ted Turner and seemingly walking away from her ideals and her career.

Fonda’s is a story of the blend of deep insecurity, magnetism, bravery, and determination that fuels the most inspiring and occasionally infuriating public lives. Finally here is Fonda and all the women she’s been.