With a theatrical career spanning nearly 100 years, Gish saw motion pictures evolve from flickers to blockbusters. Usually playing someone needing to be rescued or protected, her trademark delicacy and vulnerability belied a strong and complex woman whose fatherless childhood taught her frugality, love for her mother and her sister, Dorothy, and a distrust of men.

The author, who was her friend, chronicles the hardships, heartaches, and fierce determination that shaped her all her days. With rare photographs and intimate recollections of Lillian, Dorothy, and many other important figures.