My Sister Marilyn: A Memoir of Marilyn Monroe
One can hardly blame the cynical reader for eying a new biography of Marilyn Monroe and thinking, "Right, I'm sure there are some things we don't know abouther." In fact, this biography, written by Monroe's half-sister, Berniece Baker Miracle, and Miracle's daughter, isn't really a biography of Marilyn Monroe at all. No, it's a biography of Norma Jeane Baker, and there turns out to be plenty we don't know abouther. Berniece and Norma Jeane were half-sisters, born seven years apart to their mother, Gladys, who eventually would be diagnosed as schizophrenic. At her father's insistence, Berniece lived with him from age four; Gladys' mental breakdown necessitated Norma Jeane's stay with several foster families. The girls did not learn of each other until Berniece was 19 and Norma Jeane 12. But once each did discover the existence of the other, they stayed in close contact--both before and after Norma Jeane became MM--writing letters (many of which are reproduced here), visiting, and just being family. Without disclosing a lot of dirty laundry, this is a deeply intimate book, one that makes Monroe come alive more fully than the earlier tell-alls that focused on her acting career. Both through her own letters, and in her sister's reminiscences, Monroe emerges not merely as a troubled star but as a woman concerned throughout her life with family, a warm and vulnerable woman eager to maintain a relationship with those who care about her. To be illustrated with photographs from the Miracles' personal collection.Ilene Cooper--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.