First published 2009
Tori Spelling pulls back the curtain on celebrity parenting in this candid memoir. The former Beverly Hills 90210 star chronicles her attempts to build the stable family life she never had despite growing up wealthy. Spelling describes the surreal moments of motherhood under scrutiny: her toddler recognizing her face in grocery store tabloids, neighbors knowing her identity before introductions, and bumping into former TV colleagues at kids' birthday parties. She balances diaper duty and school events with red carpet obligations alongside husband Dean McDermott. While their reality show documents some family moments, Spelling reveals what cameras miss: vacation mishaps, pressure to shed pregnancy weight before paparazzi strike, and the constant challenge of normal parenting in abnormal circumstances. She admits falling short of suburban mother perfection while working to parent differently than her own mother did. The book offers an unfiltered look at the funny and mortifying realities of raising children when your life is public property.
Genres: family, autobiography, memoir, 21st-century, parenting
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, real-life
Setting: Beverly Hills
Period: 21st Century
237 pages · Hardcover · Gallery Books