Greek Fire: The Story of Maria Callas and Arist

The love affair of two twentieth-century icons - creators of their own grand opera. Onassis, one-time Anatolian refugee, built one of the world's greatest shipping fortunes; his life defined the jet set. Callas, defiantly Greek yet Manhattan-born, was acclaimed as the Voice of the Century. Almost as famously, she transformed not only opera but herself from dumpy, awkward ingenue to iconic sylph. Together, they shared a love that was passionate, volatile and ill-fated - yet indelible. A day-by-day recreation of the infamous 1959 cruise aboard Onassis's yacht during which the union was cemented ('It was as if a fire were consuming them both', remarked Maria's forsaken husband), and many intimates and family members speaking frankly for the first time, make this the definitive account. 'The legend has been spectacularly revived by Gage's riveting book.' Classic FM - The Magazine 'Gage . . .tells this tale with a magisterial authority.' Hugh Massingberd, Mail on Sunday