Gwyneth by Amy Odell Extract
- Allen & Unwin
- Aug 5
- 3 min read
Read an extract from Gwyneth by Amy Odell.
There are few celebrities as endlessly fascinating—or as divisive—as Gwyneth Paltrow. Whether she’s gracing red carpets in minimalist designer gowns, selling $100 jade eggs through Goop, or redefining what it means to “consciously uncouple,” Gwyneth has built a life (and a brand) that practically dares you to have an opinion. And we do.
In Gwyneth: The Biography, bestselling author Amy Odell peels back the layers of this modern icon with unprecedented access and insight. Drawing on more than 215 interviews with those who’ve known and worked closely with her, this is the first time the real story has been told—one that’s as aspirational as it is provocative, filled with juicy revelations about fame, family, ambition and the fine art of reinvention.
In the following extract, we get an intimate look at one of the most intriguing aspects of her personal life: her marriage to Coldplay singer Chris Martin. It’s a glimpse behind the curated Instagram posts and polished interviews—a look at what it really means to be married to Gwyneth Paltrow. Spoiler: it’s anything but ordinary.
Gwyneth and Martin had been together nearly eight years when they spent her thirty-eighth birthday in Italy, going for long walks in the Tuscan countryside, lazing around their rented cottage, holding hands, and drinking Barolo. The kitchen table overflowing with tomatoes from the vine, peaches, basil, and eggs from a local farm: all the trappings of a lifestyle influencer’s getaway. And yet a revelation was asserting itself, amid the autumn hillsides and fragrant evenings: The uncoupling had begun.
Gwyneth tried to ignore the feeling, a sense that despite their friendship and their shared sense of humor and taste in music and yoga, they “had never fully settled into being a couple.” As she put it later, “We just didn’t quite fit together. There was always a bit of unease and unrest.”
Her friends weren’t all that surprised. Gwyneth and Martin’s relationship seemed to grow from convenient timing more than anything else. After the honeymoon phase wore off, Gwyneth seemed to find him “dorky,” one friend said. Plus, unlike his wife, Martin was an introvert whose mind always seemed to be on his music, which made for a household dynamic that guests found stilted and uncomfortable. The pair didn’t seem to have real chemistry, and friends wondered if she was ever really in love with him, or if the romance stemmed from extraordinary circumstances—Gwyneth devastated after losing her father, Martin presenting himself to help her pick up the pieces, singing his heart out to her, among the tens of thousands in the stands. Plus, being in a relationship with a touring musician was innately difficult. After Martin married Gwyneth, Coldplay went on three world tours between 2005 and 2012, performing a total of 381 shows. Martin was worshipped by fans night after night. One person who knew the couple speculated that a rock star like Martin—though a wonderful father—would have had little room in his life for much else, which must have made parenting challenging. Yet Gwyneth was, friends said, an incredible mother who loved her kids more than anything else and was happy to work less herself and take on a bigger share of the childcare. (Since she chose to keep her kids out of the spotlight when they were growing up, discussion of them in this book has been limited.)
Gwyneth would try for a few more years to make it work with her first husband. Soon she would meet her second one.
Extracted from Gwyneth by Amy Odell.
Gwyneth
by Amy Odell
Bestselling author Amy Odell takes readers inside the world of one of the most influential, aspirational and polarising celebrities of the last thirty years.
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