For forty eight years, Professor Norman Thayer Jr (Henry Fonda, in his last film performance) and his wife Ethel (Katharine Hepburn) have holidayed at their New England cottage on Golden Pond. This time round they have an extra guest - Billy Ray (Doug McKeon), the son of their daughter Chelsea's (Jane Fonda) boyfriend, Bill. The generation gap is soon highlighted, with Norman and Billy clashing frequently and fiercely. However, as the summer progresses Norman begins to forge the kind of close relationship with the boy that he has always denied Chelsea, and comes to realize how much happiness he has missed out on with his own daughter. Fonda and Hepburn won Oscars for Best Actor and Best Actress.

Admired and beloved by movie audiences for over sixty years, four-time Academy Award-winner Katharine Hepburn is an American classic. Now Miss Hepburn breaks her long-kept silence about her private life in this absorbing and provocative memoir.

A NEW YORK TIMES Notable Book of the Year

A Book-of-the-Month-Club Main Selection


From the Paperback edition.

A collection of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn films. 'Woman of the Year' (1942) was the film which united the couple both off screen and on. A high powered political columnist (Hepburn) falls for a lowly sportswriter (Tracy) working on the same paper, even though they are poles aparts socially and intellectually. However, their relationship takes a turn for the worse after they marry, with her unable to adapt to the role of housewife, and him driven to drink by her intransigence. Hepburn won an Oscar for her role. In 'Keeper of the Flame' (1942) a widely-revered politician dies when his car runs off a bridge. Seasoned hack Steve O'Malley (Tracy) begins researching a biography on the man, and, through the revelations of his widow Christine (Hepburn), uncovers a number of dark secrets about him. In 'Adam's Rib' (1949) Tracy and Hepburn team up as a married couple finding themselves on opposite sides of a court case. Whilst in 'Pat and Mike' (1952) Pat Pemberton (Hepburn) is a PE teacher at a southern Californian college, who is persuaded by shady sports promoter Mike Conovan (Tracy) to become a professional athlete. As she flourishes in a number of disciplines, the couple begin to fall in love - although there are plenty of hurdles in the way of their eventual happiness.