Alone Together: My Life with J. Paul Getty

Tycoon J. Paul Getty, as passionate in bed as he was about building an oil empire, jotted mashed notes to his wife while on the road, as shared in this intimate self-portrait from socialite and singer Theodora (Teddy) Gaston, the fifth and final Mrs. Getty. Sexually abused by her stepfather and rejected by her first love for being half Jewish, young Teddy found success as a nightclub chanteuse in the 1930s. While performing at the Club New Yorker, young Teddy met Paul, her future husband. As gossip columnists spread rumors of the romance, Getty, who vowed never to remarry for the fifth-time, bought her an engagement ring. In 1940 they tied the knot in Mussolini's Rome. Following the ceremony the groom zoomed back to the U.S. while the young bride continued taking voice lessons abroad. Despite prolonged separations and her observation that he "wasn't the easiest of husbands," Teddy gave birth to a son in 1946. Sadly, within five years the marriage was on the rocks and their son developed an optic tumor, which cut his life tragically short. With the help of Diehl, Gaston offers an intimate diary of the hectic love life by a woman who is about to turn 100 and wants to set the record straight. (Sept.)