More Than Love: An Intimate Portrait of My Mother, Natalie Wood

In this heart-wrenching debut, actor and author Wagner (Natalie Wood: Reflections of a Legendary Life) pays loving tribute to her late mother, Hollywood legend Natalie Wood. Wagner was 11 years old and on a sleepover at her best friend’s when she heard on the radio that the drowned body of her mother had been found near Catalina Island, Calif., on Nov. 29, 1981. But rather than casting her mother as a tragic character, Wagner sets aside the controversy surrounding Wood’s death (friends and family believed that husband Robert Wagner was responsible for her death) to show a fiercely loving mother who wanted Natasha and her younger sister, Courtney, to enjoy the simple pleasures of childhood rather than follow in her footsteps as a child star. Wagner pulls no punches as she describes the repercussions of her mother’s death—her sister Courtney’s attempts to self-medicate with drugs; and Natalie’s estranged younger sister, Lana, who continues to believe that Wagner had something to with Natalie’s death, are explored. Endearing details will humanize for readers this beloved Hollywood star, such as the petite Wood’s love of lamb chops and beef bourguignon (but “right before a project she’d do a grapefruit fast”). Wagner’s beautifully written and unashamedly emotional memoir is a love letter to Natalie Wood and an enduring gift to her fans. (May)