Diva introduces us to the opera world and Madame Callas. It is interesting hinting at intriguing with a touch of a tittle-tattle. Callas' early childhood is mentioned, but a deep dive is not to be had. Her relationship with Onassis is also alluring, but the story doesn't move much past the surface. Diva is conjectured, but there is a lack of discourse about what led Callas' to the relationship and what made her stay. The novel stays at the surface level and is almost diaristic in format. It is a fine read with good pacing, but it left me wanting a little more insight.

I wanted to like this one a lot more than I did. I wasn’t able to ever connect with the writing and during my reading and after, I felt that it tarnished Callas’s life and accomplishments with not just fiction but complete untruths. Ms. Callas deserves better.

If readers are interested in learning more about the complex life of this woman, this isn’t the title I would suggest.




Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the DRC

Diva is an enjoyable read, giving an empathetic portrait of Maria Callas. Goodwin kept me reading, and many times, I turned to the internet to hear or see what she was describing so well - for example, I searched for a picture of the gown Callas wore for JFK's birthday gala and was delighted to find it matched what was in my mind. Likewise, it was irresistible not to go to Callas's recordings to hear specific renderings of her performances. This made for an interesting read, indeed.

There are many turns of phrase that are slightly off, or colloquial expressions that use the incorrect word, but as this is an ARC, I am hoping those will be ironed out by the editor, as well as grammatical mistakes, which, most likely, were not the author's original input.

Diva's pace is fine throughout; the only quibble I had with content was toward the end, as Onassis begins his courting of Jackie Kennedy. Goodwin jumps quickly from Lee to Jackie, with little filler. I had hoped to hear a bit more from Callas' side, but perhaps there is little fact to find there, I did not examine the novel for factual timelines, as Goodwin said she had to move things around a bit, which was fine by me. The ending is satisfactory, however, and left happy as a reader. Definitely recommended as a beach read!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Daisy Goodwin has masterfully written a “behind the scenes” shocker…with an unapologetic look at the life and playtimes of the international rich and famous. Maria Callas…world renown opera soprano…was one of the most famous among them.

Maria dined with presidents and movie stars. She had dinner aboard the Onassis mega yacht with Winston Churchill and Clemmie, his wife. She sang as an honored guest at the 45th birthday party for President John F. Kennedy…where she met Marilyn Monroe, who she said was warm and shy.

Goodwin has captured the many faceted persona of Maria Callas, with breathtaking descriptions of Maria’s talent and rise to fame.

Goodwin draws us eagerly into the extravagant world of opera, and describes Maria’s extraordinary talent, and the endless years of training and work and dedication. Maria is not only a once in a generation soprano…she is a gifted and passionate actress. She loves performing and feels the power of her voice and the gift she brings to her audiences.

Described as “American born Greek opera singer”, Maria, though born in NY, spent her teen and young adult life in war ravished Greece. Those years of sacrifice heavily influenced her life. She escaped this hardship through her music.

Maria Callas was fluent in four languages: English, Greek, French, and Italian…and she also spoke some Spanish. She had many facets to her personality. She displayed her public persona to her fans and admirers carefully…it was contrived and artfully constructed to present her at her best.

Maria tried to hide her early life history from the world. Her personal leap from insecure fat pimply teenager, to glamorous celebrity, was a struggle. She was challenged by the media and press about her estrangement from her family. Her mother often criticized her publicly.

Maria’s lack of confidence and insecurities stemmed from an unhappy childhood. Her mother favored Maria’s older sister, and Maria strived constantly and unsuccessfully for her mothers love.

Feeling betrayed by her mother and her sister…Maria discovered love outside of her family. Maria married Batista Meneghini, a man 30 years older than her. She was searching for security and someone she could rely on.

Goodwin writes about Batista (Tita), “he told her the first time they met that she would be the greatest diva in the world…at the time she weighed 200 pounds with legs like tree trunks.”

For many years her Italian husband Tita protected her while managing her professional life, and Maria trusted him. For many years he protected her image and personal exposure…she relied on him. And then Maria discovered he was stealing money from her.

Aristotle Onassis pursued Maria Callas…he captivated her with gifts and adulation. Their years long affair was passionate, intense, public…their intimacy was explosive. Their relationship angered Ari’s family…but the happy couple in love were oblivious or uncaring. Unfortunately, Ari was not a faithful man…and soon came the inevitable turn to another woman.

Ari Onassis and Maria had a stormy tumultuous relationship. He said she was his soulmate…he gave her precious jewels, and showered her with extravagance and attention. Maria loved him deeply, and was completely shattered when he left her and married former First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy.

Maria Callas was invited into the very highest layers of wealth and celebrity and aristocracy. She met Elsa Maxwell early in her young career, and they entered into a long term roller coaster relationship. For years their interaction fluctuated…with Elsa jumping between adoring loyal friend and bitter jealous woman. Elsa would leech onto Maria to share in her celebrity…while also introducing her to the top echelons of royalty and power.

Maria Callas was a star with a magnificent talent…she lived an extraordinary outrageous life, which author Daisy Goodwin captured beautifully and comprehensively. This novel is a monumental tribute to an incredible woman and diva.

Diva by Daisy Goodwin is a great historical fiction that gives us an inside look at the complex and fascinating woman, Maria Callas.

I knew of Maria in general (aka a talented opera singer and the woman who had a relationship with Onassis before he married Jackie Kennedy), but I did not know anything more than that.

This book helped me to see and learn about the person that she was…the real woman behind the outward persona and performer. She had her own haunting experiences growing up, and she was misunderstood and slighted in her adult years. I felt bad for her and all the disappointments and sad events that she experienced personally all the while putting on the face and being the talent and star that she needed to be.

It was interesting to see Maria for who she really was.

4/5 stars

Thank you NG and ST Martin’s Press for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 1/23/24.

”Maria felt the warmth of the applause run through her, burning away her fear. She was no longer Maria, the vulnerable woman, but Callas, la Divina, who could bring a reluctant audience to its feet.”

tw: infidelity, miscarriage, light spoilers

Listen, I know that I’m a sucker for historical fiction, but this one just didn’t live up to the hype.

I was really excited to start this book when I saw how many positive reviews there were. This was also an intriguing promise because I have never heard of Maria Callas and I knew nothing about her story, so this was a very educational and illuminating read regardless of whether I personally enjoyed it or not. Unfortunately, since this is <i>not</i> strictly based on educational purposes, I have to give this a three star rating because it simply wasn’t satisfactory for numerous reasons.

The biggest issue that I had with this book was the writing style itself. While there was a good amount of imagery and description, something that I especially approve of in historical novels, the prose still fell flat. There was something so forced and stilted about Goodwin’s narration, and the choppiness interrupted my flow of reading multiple times throughout the book. In my mind, if a book isn’t good enough to keep me hooked on it for the duration of the novel, it might not be worth it. The issue with the writing style wasn’t that bad, but it was enough to shake me out of my reading “groove” and it took me longer than usual to finish reading this book.

The other big issue that I had with this book was how weirdly personal it seemed. I know that this isn’t technically a biography, but I’m shelving it as such for organizational purposes. Also, since Goodwin claimed that this isn’t a biography, that gave her the creative liberty to alter Maria and turn her into more of a fictional character rather than a factual recreation of real life events. This itself isn’t the issue.

There were several thoughts that Maria had that seemed insanely personal, and since they technically were fabricated by Goodwin, they felt very invasive and full of assumptions. Like I said, I understand that this is not a biography that exclusively includes factual information, but still. That doesn’t feel like enough of a separation from who Maria really was to write such things from “her” perspective. Especially when it came to the baby with Ari, her inside thoughts became deeply personal.

I also found the dialogue to be really unrealistic. Not just because of the actual words and sentences that they were speaking, but because of the intonation and simply unnatural way of conversing as well. At times it didn’t even read as a script for a play, let alone dialogue in a book. It was a massive contrast to the setting and imagery, which were written in a much more consumable and tolerable manner. The dialogue wasn’t the worst, but again, it was enough to stand out and distract me in a bad way. It took attention away from the story that was actually being told.

This isn’t really a piece of criticism but more of me just pointing something out; why were Maria’ss hands always referred to as “long and white”? I swear that exact phrasing came up like three times in the latter half of the book alone.

On the other hand, something that I especially enjoyed was the way Goodwin walked us through opera and theater techniques in case we weren’t familiar (I definitely am not). This actually helped lessen interruptions, since I didn’t have to stop reading to look something up to understand what was happening.

I also really liked the characters themselves. Maybe this is because they were all actually real people, but the characters in the book felt really fleshed out and real (except for their dialogue).

It’s a weird feeling, when I read a book with some traits that I really like and some that I really don’t. I suppose this explains my three star rating, but I still feel a little unsure about this book despite working through my favorite and least favorite parts. Maybe this is one of those books that will stay with me, not because it’s a favorite, but because of how conflicted it made me feel.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Daisy Goodwin for the ARC!

This is a fascinating inside look from "the other woman's" point of view, the talented singer Maria Callas, and the love of her life, who just happened to be Jackie O's husband. The real story is scandalous and amazing, but Daisy Goodwin takes it and elevates the true story onto a whole other level, making it unputdownable and heartbreaking. This was wonderfully written and so interesting. I loved every page! Ten stars!

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read Diva by Daisy Goodwin. Brava!!!! Maria Callas was an extraordinary woman. A woman of great talent and great strength. This book was a Five Star read.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read and review this book. The opinions expressed are my own.
This is a very well-written book about the love affair between opera singer Maria Callas and Aristotle Onassis, one of the richest men in the world. It was interesting, but I couldn't help but feel sorry for Maria (at times). She was so in love with him, and then he married Jackie Kennedy. Even though they seemed to be really in love, their relationship was really heartbreaking for Maria. I really enjoyed reading about this strong, talented woman. I also enjoyed all the descriptions of the locations and the clothes. Highly recommend if you like stories about real people!

Diva by Daisy Goodwin will be perfect for fans of Maria Callas. Although this is a fictional novel, it is more of a biographical historical fiction. For me, that didn’t hit as I prefer more of a central plot where the historical figure sort of rotates around the focus of the novel, for example, The Rose Code.

I have always been fascinated by Maria Dallas and this book did not disappoint! I loved how it focused not only on her opera careee , but also her personal life. There were some scenes in the book that might disturb some readers, however her relationship with Ari was tumultuous and those scenes show that. Definitely a great fictional addition to the Jackie, Maria, Ari love triangle.

This is the second historical fiction book about Maria Callas. I’m sure you can search up the first one, which features both Jackie O and the Callas as titular characters. While this version focused mainly on Maria’s life before Onassis, the other version focused more on Maria’s life with— and beyond— Ari. I definitely recommend reading both to get the whole picture of Maria.

While I enjoyed this book, I wanted it to keep going and showcase what Maria’s life was like after her affair with Aristo ended. It’s called “Diva,” not “Onassis,” so why stop once he was out of the picture and married? What happened to her career? Did she ever get divorced from Tita? There was so much to still cover. Maria Callas, for the first time in her life, was finally alone. How did she handle this? There are so many questions to still answer and the book just ended without getting to the true heart of the Callas.

I definitely recommend going down the rabbit hole and learning more about the diva herself if you, like me, still had unanswered questions.

Diva by Daisy Goodwin is an extraordinary historical fiction thats wonderfully engaging, highly readable and a hard one to put down.
I was both mesmerized and rather seduced by the way this story was written and how it unfolded.
Engaging characters, great story and beautifully written this was quite the story.

“An excellent story of the scandalous love affair between the most celebrated opera singer of all time and one of the richest men in the world.”

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I had read Jackie & Maria so I had some familiarity with Maria Callas' life, and I thoroughly enjoyed this one as well. Daisy Goodwin does a wonderful job at bringing Maria to life on the page. The time line spans from girlhood to the end of her relationship with Onassis. The touches of opera are interesting as well; there's just the right amount, even if you are not musically inclined. I also enjoyed reading about Maria's familial relationships, especially the troubles with feeling jealous (in a way) of her sister. This is an entertaining and engaging read that brings the opera singer and worldwide sensation to life and fleshes her out as a woman with many facets, including her successful career and drama-filled love life.

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for providing an e-galley of "Diva." All opinions are completely my own.

I received a free ARC ebook of <i>Diva</i> from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

The complicated and very public life of Maria Callas shines through the pages of <i>Diva.</i> Her astonishing world-wide success as an opera singer made her the target of gossip columnists and intrusive photographers, all of whom were eager to capture the slightest misstep for public consumption.

Callas's very public relationship with the married Aristotle Onassis managed to dictate much of her middle years. Her all-encompassing love for the philandering shipping magnate caused her to second guess much of her career. Her troubled childhood contributed to her desperate need to be loved. Onassis showered her with jewels but never a wedding ring.

Goodwin presents Onassis as a powerful but selfish man who used women to accent his status in wealthy, titled society. Onassis's sudden marriage to Jackie Kennedy ended his relationship with Maria.

It's easy to say that Maria should have known better, to have trusted her talent as all she needed. Yet Goodwin allows Maria's lonely and neglected childhood to help readers understand her willingness to be used and emotionally mistreated. The dismissive tone of her mother is Maria's constant companion as she searches for acceptance and love.

This author does a wonderful job presenting the lifestyles of the rich and famous while presenting Callas as a very real woman.

Daisy Goodwin has written a captivating story about one of the most well-known opera singers of the 20th century, Maria Callas. I think one of the highest compliments a reader can pay to a historical novel is to immediately want to find out more about the author's topic. Goodwin stirred my curiosity and I've spent some time today looking for more information about Maria Callas.

"Diva" spans Maria's life from young girl to just after her break-up with Aristotle Onassis. She found out two days before the wedding that he was marrying Jacqueline Kennedy. Goodwin writes about the various operas in which the singer starred and about her extensive travel. Maria's anger at her mother and sister persisted throughout her life; when young, Maria started believing that her mother preferred her sister. The portrayal of this and other foibles makes Maria come to life.

I would describe the late Maria Callas as talented, fascinating, and troubled. "Diva" is a well-written book and one I would recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of "Diva."

A great story about an amazing woman who is most likely the most talented opera singer there ever was - Maria Callas. I don't know anything about opera but certainly knew who she was even though I was a babe in arms during her time. Maria was a complicated woman who struggled to find love in her life. Her commitment to her art was her life and she rarely faulted in her dedication to that. The author does an amazing job in bringing Maria to life and really making the reader feel her every emotion. I loved it! Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Beautifully written, this is a passionate story of a woman that had just about everything in life except a ring on her finger from the only man she loved.

The author’s story is about Maria Callas, one of the most famous opera divas with a voice that moved an audience to tears. She was known worldwide and even asked to perform for JFK on his 45th birthday along with Marilyn Monroe.

It's easy to get caught up in the book about this woman who was consumed by her dress, makeup and presentation. She said, “When you are Maria Callas, the whole world expects you to play the part.” My sister who was working at the Seattle Opera House in 1974 said, “I remember the many shoes she had to have for the opera performance and how difficult she was – I was the bookkeeper.”

The story takes the reader behind the scenes into her life as a young girl. She was resentful to her mother for exploiting her voice to sing for the soldiers during WWII. She also carried a bitter hatred toward her mother for loving her sister more.

She had money, power and admirers worldwide. People would practically bow down to her. Yet, there was only one thing she desired: to marry Aristotle Onassis. He gave her expensive necklaces and earrings with glowing diamonds. He bought an island for her to enjoy and an apartment in Paris. It wasn’t enough. Her life was like one of the characters on stage with a dramatic display of deep love and sorrowful devastation.

Many of us have heard of Maria Callas from five decades or so ago. But this book shows how this brilliant, talented opera star ended up as a lonely woman in her bedroom. There are pieces of history from the early 1940’s to the late 60’s that can motivate one to read other related publications. It’s well written with an impressive amount of research. It inspired me to glance through Google, see some of the photographs and listen to her voice. We learn from stories – like this one.

My thanks to Daisy Goodwin, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of January 23, 2024.

Before she was known as a “Diva,” before she became an incomparable opera star, Maria Callas was a young girl with a gifted talent. Born in New York City and living in Washington Heights, she was 13 years old when she left with her mother to live in Greece. She was, overweight and insecure, but she had a God given talent. Her sister, Jacky, was her mother’s favorite, so much so that as the years went by, Maria and her mother became estranged.

We first meet her in 1940 in Greece and it is there that Maria attends the Conservatoire taking singing lessons with the great Spanish soprano, Elvira de Hidalgo. From the very beginning of her career she was already dubbed as a “phenomenon” and the “divine one.” Establishing herself as a Diva, no longer overweight, she had lost the pounds and now she was beautiful and truly “chic.” Temperamental, she could fly into a rage at any given time, but then she was artistic. In 1957 while she was still married, she was introduced to Aristotle Onassis at a party given in her honor by Elsa Maxwell. The undercurrent between the two was instant. At that time Onassis was also married, but his flirtations and affairs were understood by his wife, as she too had her own lover. As we, the readers, take the journey with the two of them, it is hard to believe the opulence, the luxury that surrounded the couple. Both being Greek they had much in common, the language, the background. She fell madly in love with him With his wealth he introduced her to a world she never knew, as her career was always foremost, what she lived for. Now with him she traveled extensively, associating with celebrities, as he fed her with jewels as well as the security of feeling safe within his arms. After nine years, it was over…the year he married Jackie Kennedy. Onassis was definitely a sexual man, and due to his wealth he was able to seduce many women. Was he a womanizer, read the book and decide for yourself?

Well researched and well written, the book was amazing as you observe the lives of the rich and famous, their ups and downs, the scandals along with their emotions. By no means was this novel a fairy tale…at times their relationship was difficult, both of them having strong personalities. Reading this you realize no matter the wealth, no matter the celebrity, you really can’t have it all.

My thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. This novel has already been reviewed on Goodreads with a five star rating.

Diva was a hard book to put down. The writing was done with finesse and left me wanting a sequel. This book is a great 5 star book.