From the Publisher
"Emboldened by each day’s revelations and driven by their abiding love for each other, [Dern and Ladd] wade into deeper confessions. The book is at its most memorable and affecting when they work up the courage to excavate heavy, sharp-edged emotional artifacts. . . They yell, grow quiet, accuse and forgive, allowing us to witness their relationship evolving, walk by walk."—New York Times
"Diane Ladd and Laura Dern have broken ground with “Honey, Baby, Mine,” a series of 14 recorded conversations and commentaries that make a brilliant end-run around the one-sidedness of a traditional memoir. The exchanges convey a rich mixture of love, exasperation, nostalgia and resentment that will be familiar to anyone who has ever been a mother or a daughter."—Washington Post
“Even the hardest of hearts might shed a tear or two thanks to the ways in which this book forces the reader to consider their own relationship with their mother.”—The Associated Press
"Family photos, recipes, playbills, handwritten notes, and individual asides break up the conversation transcripts. From their favorite colors to the legacy they share as single mothers and award-winning artists, this becomes a very full and generous picture of a mother and daughter, imbued with genuine gratitude. . . It's quite special to witness." —Booklist
“[T]his is the best, truest, most shockingly entertaining Hollywood memoir I’ve ever read. It is also one of the most loving.”—The Telegraph
Library Journal
03/24/2023
Dern and her mother Ladd, both actresses, reflect on their lives together in this intimate memoir. After Ladd was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, she was advised to walk to strengthen her lungs. On subsequent daily walks with Dern, the two women had conversations that they share in this book and tell how their revelations fortified their already strong bond. Some remembrances revolve around Ladd's youth, growing up in Mississippi and Alabama among an assortment of colorful family members, and her early struggles to establish a career on her own in New York City. Ladd later married Bruce Dern and had two daughters, one of whom drowned at the age of two. Ladd and Dern reflect on friendships, the dynamics of family life, motherhood, and their careers; the two have played mother and daughter in several films, including Wild at Heart and Citizen Ruth. The book is also sprinkled with a few of their favorite recipes—banana pudding, chicken and dumplings—which makes for a warm and engaging memoir. Ladd's good friend and Dern's godmother, actress Shelley Winters also figures prominently in the stories. VERDICT Generously illustrated with family photos, this book will be a treat for fans of celebrity memoirs.—Phillip Oliver
June 2023 - AudioFile
This genre-bending collection of searingly intimate real-life conversations exemplifies everything that is exciting about audio as a medium. When actor Diane Ladd is diagnosed with lung scarring from pesticide exposure, she's given six months to live and told that exercise is her only chance for improvement. Ladd's daughter, actor Laura Dern, proposes daily walks, with the commitment to leave nothing between the two unsaid. Recording their conversations ignites the storyteller and performer in Ladd, whose breath and spirit audibly improve as the audiobook progresses. Listening to these raw conversations would feel voyeuristic if the emotional themes the women cover weren't so universal. Ladd and Dern are highly gifted at connecting with an audience, making this a phenomenally crafted audio experience unlike any other. J.T. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2023-05-08
When a famous mother and daughter take up walking in an attempt to heal mom’s troubled lungs, hearts and souls become involved.
Ladd and Dern, her daughter from her marriage to actor Bruce Dern, didn't realize quite how much they had to talk about until Ladd was diagnosed with a lung condition that could kill her in six months. There wasn't much to be done; the doctor could only suggest that walking might expand Ladd's lung capacity. It may have worked, as four years later, both mother and daughter are around for photo sessions, an audiobook recording, and publicity about the book. Based on the transcripts of a series of recorded talks, the book includes an introduction by Reese Witherspoon, additional commentary from both writers, a gorgeous collection of snapshots and studio stills, and a few recipes. Reminiscences of Ladd's Mississippi youth are one of the treats of this double memoir, but what is most remarkable about the book is that because of the nature of the conversations, Ladd and Dern were able to dig up all the unfinished business and resentments of their relationship. Instead of preserving them in amber as in many memoirs daughters write about their mothers, this book allows readers to share in the flare-ups, the sorting through, the soothing, etc. Dern recalls a haircut Ladd gave her son 14 years ago, without asking: "Thinking that boys can't have long hair is just so outdated, Mom. It really smacks of homophobia and gender bias. We should be raising our kids with a sense of freedom and openness toward their own self-expression." To which Diane replies, "Woo-boy! No, Laura. He asked for the haircut." "You are such an actress!" says Laura. "That is not true!" From the outset, this familial portrait is feisty, frank, and full of love.
One of the best mother-daughter stories to come out of Hollywood.
