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There Was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother and Me Audiobook
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Publisher Description
Actress and author of the New York Times bestseller Down Came the Rain, Brooke Shields, explores her relationship with her unforgettable mother, Teri, in her new memoir.
Brooke Shields never had what anyone would consider an ordinary life. She was raised by her Newark-tough single mom, Teri, a woman who loved the world of show business and was often a media sensation all by herself. Brooke's iconic modeling career began by chance when she was only eleven months old, and Teri's skills as both Brooke's mother and manager were formidable. But in private she was troubled and drinking heavily.
As Brooke became an adult the pair made choices and sacrifices that would affect their relationship forever. And when Brooke’s own daughters were born she found that her experience as a mother was shaped in every way by the woman who raised her. But despite the many ups and downs, Brooke was by Teri’s side when she died in 2012, a loving daughter until the end.
Only Brooke knows the truth of the remarkable, difficult, complicated woman who was her mother. And now, in an honest, open memoir about her life growing up, Brooke will reveal stories and feelings that are relatable to anyone who has been a mother or daughter.
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“The actress and former model traces her mother’s life—starting with Teri’sworking-class Newark, New Jersey, upbringing and distant parents—as well as herown…From her first modeling job for Ivory soap as a toddler to her heyday asthe poster girl for Calvin Klein, Shields, with her distinctive ‘European look,’let her mother make decisions for her, without much thought to a ‘career’ butwith an eye to money and trips they took together. Some of those decisions werehighly criticized…Eventually the actress found some independence by attendingPrinceton…[and] some degree of self-awareness emerges.”
— Publishers Weekly
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“As an adult, Brooke rotated between estrangement from and reconciliation with her mother; today, she thinks plenty about their relationship as she and writer-producer Chris Henchy raise their two daughters. In other words, what could have been a next-generation Mommy Dearest becomes something else: a (sometimes painfully) frank account of growing up in a seriously privileged but painfully dysfunctional family and how one might possibly break such a cycle.”
— Amazon.com, editorial review -
"[A] well-crafted and insightful read from beginning to end…a remarkably clear-eyed examination.”
— Associated Press -
“It was Brooke’s role as a child prostitute in the 1978 Louis Malle film Pretty Baby that garnered Terri a reputation as a single mother who sold her daughter for her own ambition. Brooke wants to set the record straight about that but pulls no punches about her mother’s full-blown alcoholism. Terri died young of dementia and this book is in part her daughter’s response to her guilt that she never told her mother what she meant to her…Verdict: A raw, honest tale of a mother and daughter that will appeal not only to celebrity watchers but mothers and daughters.”
— Library Journal -
“Shields reflects on the protective—and stifling—relationship between her and her mother…And following her death in 2012, Shields was horrified to find the obituary rife with misrepresentations. This book is her effort to set the story straight…Shields writes with considerable reflection; she’s done the hard work of making sense of the contradictions in her mother, and now we get the benefit of her sharing what she’s learned.”
— Kirkus Reviews -
“Shields clearly had some scores to settle with this memoir about her relationship with her controversial mother. Two years after her mother’s death, Shields is still bristling over the New York Times obituary of Teri Shields, which she blasts as ‘a scathing, judgmental critique.’ The actress and former model acknowledges that Teri was an alcoholic and a tough businesswoman, but says she was also fiercely protective of her famous daughter. This frank and credible account offers an intriguing look at a complex relationship and the perils of growing up in the public eye.”
— BookPage
Awards
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A BookPage Top Pick for December 2014
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An Amazon Best Book of the Month for November 2014
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About Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields is an award-winning actress and New York Times bestselling author. She lives in New York City with her husband, writer and producer Chris Henchy, and their two daughters.