“Her sort of trouble”

The chapter uses material from Vivien Leigh’s British Library papers to forge a new approach to histories of her struggles with mental health. The chapter examines how this particular aspect of her life is represented within the archive. As a case study, I analyze fan letters that were generated in response to press coverage of the breakdown Leigh suffered while filming Elephant Walk in 1953. The chapter shows how predominantly female fan writers corresponded with Leigh. In turn, they capitalized on the simultaneous intimacy and distance of the fan letter to create a platform for self-exploration. More broadly, the chapter considers the cultural frameworks in which such fan-inflected confession gestated. It reads the content of the letters against a backdrop of attitudes toward women’s mental health at this time.