Overall: 4.5-5/5 Stars
Summary of review: A memoir of Sally Field’s personal life with a little mix of being on set in her early acting days.
Summary:
This is Sally Field’s raw and honest memoir. She discusses her childhood, beginning to learn her craft, starting in TV, and winning an Oscar. She also discusses her marriages, children, and Burt Reynolds. Her complicated relationship with her mother is highlighted throughout the novel. She discusses a lot of topics, such as divorce, child abuse, etc.
My thoughts:
This is not a tell-all behind the scenes memoir. This is about Sally’s life, and it is brutally honest. Sally does not paint herself as this perfect person that so many actresses show for the camera and in magazines. She is not afraid to tell her secrets and show us who she really is. I admire that. It has to take a lot of guts to write a book this raw.
Some parts were hard to read while other parts were interesting and uplifting. Sally has had her ups and downs over her lifetime through a troublesome/abusive childhood, starting out in the industry, to failed marriages, children, and a complicated relationship with her mother.
She manages the timeline perfectly. She switches in each chapter from on the set/work to her personal life with ease. Sally is a talented storyteller. This memoir is also beautifully written.
I wish the memoir would have discussed her entire life. I felt like after the 1980s nothing was really discussed. I was a little disappointed in this.
It is hard to rate a book when you can tell this was a labor of love for Sally. I was going to rate it a 4.5 star review, but… I just could not. She was so open to the reader even with the hard topics.
Conclusion: If you want to know more about Sally Field- her early acting days to her personal life…. Then pick this book up!
Trigger warnings: Child sexual abuse, drugs/alcohol, loss of a loved one, mental health, domestic abuse (verbal and controlling), etc.
