A compelling portrait of one of Hollywood's most invincible women, the late Barbara Stanwyck. Stanwyck was a most unusual movie star, an actress of considerable and neglected talent who continually elevated every role she had, a woman whose personal life matched the rocky road her career eventually took. Whispered to be among Hollywood's scandalous "Sewing Circle," a group of internationally famous actresses who hid their potentially career-ending lesbianism and bisexuality, Stanwyck always kept her liaisons as secretly shrouded as possible. Despite her steely resolve and her image as a take-control kind of woman, Stanwyck suffered from turbulent marriages and relationships, including her sensational marriage to, and divorce from, the beautiful and abusive Robert Taylor. Madsen offers a fresh look at this fascinating, complex screen goddess, offering provocative and shocking details from one of Hollywood's most interesting lives.