Tennessee Williams and His Roman Spring

“In Mrs. Stone there was a certain grandeur which had replaced her former beauty. The knowledge that her beauty was lost had come upon her recently and it was still occasionally forgotten.
 
--Tennessee Williams, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone

Tennessee Williams; Photograph by Cecil Beaton

Vivien Leigh and Warren Beatty in the Film Adaptation of "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone"

​Williams, Tennessee. The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone. 1950. This was the great playwright’s only successful novel, but like his work for the stage, it was autobiographical. Tennessee Williams himself was the basis for Mrs. Stone, the American widow in the thrall of an attractive young Italian gigolo. The American publisher opted for a graphic jacket illustration by Alvin Lustig. The English Edition went with a more realistic design by Cecil Beaton.

American Edition

English Edition

Image Credit: The Face of the World