
I really enjoyed this book even though I wanted it to be more dishy. Yeah, I guess I'm just catty like that. (C'mon, Linda....say something snarky about Kris K....you know you wanna!) It's hard not to love Linda Thompson as she seems like a genuinely sweet and loving woman....a real Southern girl! The upsetting part of this book was realizing that Elvis was more than a little controlling of young Linda in their relationship. I also had the strong feeling that Linda was not always truly loved and adored by the men in her life the way she should have been. Her respect and abiding love for every relationship she discusses is admirable, even if she does come across as a bit of a pushover at times. I never really dig a woman or man that's only famous for who they've coupled with because that alone doesn't always make a person interesting (see Pattie Boyd). But this isn't the case for Linda Thompson. She seems to be a woman who we would have known no matter what. Maybe meeting Elvis at age 22 just let us get to know her earlier.
This book also brought on a real nostalgia of The King and I ended up watching the "Aloha from Hawaii" TV special and imagining Linda watching Elvis in one of his first appearances of their relationship. It was enough to bring a tear to my eye for the early loss of such a man.