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Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s marriage ended in divorce, and new personal letters shared by their daughter, Lucie Arnaz, revealed their relationship was always “complicated.” Early on in their romance, Ball and Desi wrote each other letters while he was serving in the U.S. Army. Fans now get a glimpse into the letters in the Lucie’s new book, Lucy & Desi: The Love Letters, which was released on Tuesday, November 4. While speaking to People, Lucie, 74, explained she was surprised when she came across the letters that her late parents wrote to each other. “It wasn’t unusual that there were letters that they wrote to each other, but that she kept both of them,” she said. “That’s what’s so incredible to me…. And they were so beautifully kept.” In the book’s forward, Lucie described the I Love Lucy stars’ relationship as “youthful, passionate, tempestuous, vulnerable” and “complicated.” Meanwhile, she told the outlet that Ball and Desi weren’t in a good place for the last several years of their marriage. “Maybe the last 10 years or 8 years of the marriage were uncomfortable and very hard for them both, but after they separated, everything softened,” she said. “They didn’t leave each other. They were in each other’s lives forever, for always — they just weren’t married.” Following their divorce in 1960, Ball went on to marry comedian Gary Morton in 1961 and Arnaz married Edith Mack Hirsch in 1963. However, Lucie said that they always remained in each other’s lives in a unique way. “They were married to other people, but they were still a couple in a weird way, you know … they respected each other’s marriages and each other’s partners as something that made more sense, maybe — Maybe those people were better for them at this particular time in their life, but I don’t think it was ever as passionate as it was with just the two of them,” she said. Parade Daily🎬 SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 The letters featured in the book were written mostly during World War II. While some of the letters were flirtatious, others included more mundane topics. However, some of the letters touched on the jealousy that comes with a new relationship. After all, they only got married in 1940 before Desi was drafted in 1943. “I think of you instantly upon waking– all day – all nite – until I go to sleep again. Maybe that’s why you sounded so kinda sad + bored with me last nite,” Ball wrote in one letter from 1940, per People.
