Life is Not a Stage

 Book 54 of my 2021 Reading Challenge

Life Is Not a Stage: From Broadway Baby to a Lovely Lady and Beyond

by Florence Henderson

Summary (via the book jacket)

published 2011

For millions of people around the world, Carol Brady is synonymous with motherhood, but growing up as the youngest of ten children in rural Indiana in the aftermath of the Great Depression, Florence Henderson lived a life quite different from that of the quintessential TV mom she later played on television.

Florence's father was a dirt-poor tobacco tenant farmer who was nearly fifty years old when he married Florence's twenty-five-year-old mother, and was nearly seventy when Florence was born. Florence's childhood was full of depravation and abandonment. Her father was an alcoholic at a time when there was no rehab or help for the disease. Their home rarely had electricity or running water. When she was twelve, Florence's mother left the family to work in Cleveland and never returned.

Florence opens up about her childhood, as well as the challenges she's faced as an adult, including stage fright, postpartum depression, her extramarital affairs, divorce, her hearing loss, and heart problems. She writes with honesty and wisdom of how her faith and ability to survive has brought her through rough times to a life of profound joy and purpose.

First Impressions/Judging a Book by Its Cover

This book is the 32nd book on my 'to-read' list on Goodreads so it was one of the first books I added when I joined back in 2012.  I'm reading it now for a few reasons.  I'm still using curbside pickup for the library so it's a good opportunity to actually take some things off of my 'to-read' list since I'm not browsing for unexpected items.  I've been in a reading slump so a biography, especially one I expect to be lighthearted and fun, is an easy choice.  

As for the book itself, I have a passing familiarity with Florence Henderson, mainly through "The Brady Bunch" and "Dancing with the Stars".  I know there is more to her than those roles so I'm sure I'll learn but I'm expecting a base awareness of most of the people she would talk about.

I always mention if a biography/memoir includes photos and I'm happy to say there are multiple color photos included in this book.

My Opinion

3 stars

She began by saying she avoided writing a biography prior to this because her life was difficult and she didn't want to revisit it.  After reading this book she definitely opened some wounds but I think waiting helped because hindsight helps shape things when writing a biography/memoir.  If you're taking the time to write a memoir you do want to include as much as you're comfortable with and by waiting, she was able to provide more depth and honesty.  

The downside of reading this 10 years after it came out is reading the optimism at the end of how she hopes to still be working when she's 90; to quote her, "maybe the sequel to this book will tell you how and if I make it."  Although she didn't make it to 90 (passing away in 2016 at the age of 82), hopefully she was still satisfied with the full life she lived.