I'm a huge fan of Garcelle Beauvais on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and this memoir reads like I'm listening to Garcelle's witty and poignant confessionals on the show. For me, I imagine it's her iconic periwinkle purple monochromatic look from Season I enjoyed the way that the novel was written, focusing on each topic that has played an important role in her life rather than chronologically. It would have made it easier to read in sittings if you were busy, but fortunately I had the time to rip through it in one sitting.
I learned a lot about Garcelle's life, enjoyed the interesting celebrity name drops Michael Jordan! Bill Cosby! Halle Berry! Whoopi Goldberg! A must read for Real Housewives fans, fans of Garcelle from her earlier work like The Jamie Foxx show and anyone interested in an immigrant from Haiti's experience with race, faith, love, motherhood and Hollywood.
I received a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review Garcelle Beauvais has been something akin to a staple in my life since I was a small child watching her on The Jamie Foxx Show after school. Even before I knew her name so I was so happy when I got approved to read and review her memoir a month and a half early. There's this quote from Modern Family "You can learn a lot about someone by reading their biography" and although it's supposed to be a silly quote, it wasn't wrong.
I learned more about her from this memoir than I have in my entire life of watching her on television, in movies, and listening to her podcast. She leaves nothing out, everything is detailed, and there's such a brave transparency there. Everything was shared in this book. Her early life in Haiti, her relationship or lack there of with her father, both of her divorces, the infidelity, the infertility, roles she got but didn't because racism, relationships, her relationship with her body and sex.
You name it, it's in here. I received my ARC on which ironically is actually her oldest son's birthday and finished it on the very next morning. Beauvais has such an honest, vulnerable, and witty way of writing that it made it so easy to get through this even with my attention span. I knew this would be my longest and most thorough review because not only have I adored this woman since my early childhood, this book was good.
