I love Hollywood memoirs and this one hits all the best notes. Viola tells us about her childhood, which was fraught with poverty, alcoholism and abuse. She ca pinpoint exactly the moment acting grabbed her and how it helped her feel seen and be able to give that gift to others. I loved the stories of her acting exploits as a child, her opportunities with Upward Bound and scholarship programs that she never felt worthy of but always made the most of. I liked the weaving of professional success with personal exploration both of her heritage and her wants and needs.
The inside Hollywood details were great and helped the lay person not only understand the business, what the business is like for a woman with dark skin who is not “traditionally pretty” and how deeply researched roles can be. Her insight on the good and bad of a blockbuster movie about race like The Help, really made me think and question.
The best memoirs automatically transport you to the lives you are being let into and this one did that for me. Some experiences resonated with me completely and the ones that didn’t helped me understand and empathize.
I did the audiobook and it was fabulous to hear her own story through her own voice. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I was gonna post this later in the month, but with Viola’s big win yesterday, I decided to bump up my post.
What’s the last memoir you enjoyed?
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