Publisher's Synopsis
THE SOUL OF BETH is a true story about Elizabeth Short, better remembered as The Black Dahlia, who was horrifically murdered in Los Angeles in 1947. Beth, (the name she was known by then) and Nita, still a student in high school, were co-workers in a popular tea parlor in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In this clear, unfeigned story, Beth's charm, personality and kindly manner are recounted in dynamic incidents that took place at the restaurant, St. Clair's: Nita was saved by Beth from the harassment of a senior waitress, an unattractive spinster who perpetually tormented the frightened teenager: Beth helped Nita heal her broken heart when her first boyfriend ended their love affair: and it was Beth who introduced Nita to a bigger world when one night she took her to a downtown Boston fashionable restaurant-night club. Juanita Spinos is unreserved in accrediting Beth for her defined self-improvement: Nita copied Beth in her meticulousness in dressing and arranging her hair and makeup; in acquiring a more confident air with everyone she came in contact with; and although she didn't intentionally try to duplicate Beth's many attributes, she felt she was becoming more and more like her idol. Emanating Beth's vivacious style and 'savoir faire', the shy, naive Nita grows into a more secure and competent adult. These new-found qualities are advantageous in developing a friendship with a suave, Latin-American Harvard student, whom she wound up marrying, and living a glamorous life in a capital city, south of the border. While not giving any pertinent detail to her life in a South America, Nita pays heartfelt tribute to her adoptive country in a most eloquent and descriptive manner. Not until her return to the U.S. 20 years later, did she discover that her precious friend, Beth; now known as The Black Dahlia, had become famous for having been brutally murdered. Over the span of years, hearing shady gossip as to the character of The Black Dahlia through the media of books and films, Nita was often distraught and saddened. She declares in THE SOUL OF BETH: 'This painful information I gained about her way of life prior to the baffling end made me determined to tell my story to demonstrate that there was only good in that unique person, my friend, Beth; because knowing Beth could leave you with nothing less than inspiration and a 'joie de vivre.' Now, through THE SOUL OF BETH Juanita Sands introduces to the world the real 'Dahlia'; the unmatchable, the extraordinary, the everlasting Beth, to honor this dear friend; the brightest star in the heavens."
