Summary

Tennessee Williams' long and convoluted friendship with the actress Diana Barrymore ended with her death from a heart attack at age 38 in January 1960. She had ruined "the early promise of her film career and lost many years to alcohol and drug addictions and three turbulent marriages," according to the author. Nevertheless, along the way she'd acted in several of Tennessee's plays, including "The Glass Menagerie" and "Suddenly Last Summer." Barrymore developed an obsession with Williams, imagining herself as his loving wife. She insinuated herself into Williams' family, too; Dakin Williams and Diana Barrymore began referring to each other as brother and sister. She loved to show off a gold pendant Tennessee had given her with the inscription "10."

"Period of Adjustment," a light romantic comedy, signaled for Williams a change of direction away from his darker, more violent works. He hoped to show himself as...