Publicity Contact: Sharyn Rosenblum
Sharyn.rosenblum@harpercollins.com; 212-207-7470
A memoir by the acclaimed author of A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries reveals the painful truth about growing up as the daughter of
literary royalty and the consequences of a mother-daughter relationship torn apart by miscommunication and alcoholism
“Kaylie Jones, who has already proved herself a first-rate novelist, shines in this memoir as well. She has the goods, thus writes with restraint. Her talent is different from her father’s, but she has his gift for artful straight-shooting.The result, this beautiful story, not unlike From Here to Eternity, brings
you to your knees, then hoists you
up and dries your eyes.”
—Roger Rosenblatt,
author of Lapham Rising and Beet
“I know now that if I see my father again, in a death bed vision, I will tell him I was not able to keep my deep-sworn vow to him to stop my mother from drinking,” writes Kaylie Jones in her new book, LIES MY MOTHER NEVER TOLD ME (William Morrow, ISBN: 9780061778704; On Sale: August 25, 2009; Price: $25.99 US/$33.99 Can).“But I am not sorry. I could not have stopped her. It was not my responsibility.” A simple realization—but one that took years of pain and hard work to achieve as Jones reveals in this page-turning memoir that is as inspiring as it is engrossing.
The only daughter of the award-winning novelist James Jones (From Here to Eternity), Kaylie Jones grew up in the epicenter of the literary world. Her brilliant father and strikingly beautiful mother, Gloria, counted such luminaries as James Baldwin, William Styron, Norman Mailer, Mary McCarthy, Willie Morris, Irwin Shaw, and Kurt Vonnegut among their circle of friends. But hidden behind the family’s glamorous image were alcoholism and emotional abuse that would eventually threaten to destroy Kaylie.
In LIES MY MOTHER NEVER TOLD ME, the author explores her battle to conquer her own drinking problem, her efforts to honor a doting father who died much too young, and—most of all—her struggle to come to terms with an alcoholic mother capable of incredible generosity and astonishing cruelty.
Though filled with delicious and sometimes hilarious celebrity anecdotes—including one involving Frank Sinatra, Lauren Bacall and a warning against rebound sex—this memoir is, at its heart, a universal story about breaking free from a toxic past to emerge a strong and healthy woman.
Kaylie, herself an accomplished novelist (A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries, Celeste Ascending, Speak Now), writes with remarkable compassion and insight. Self-aware, without being self-involved, she admits her mistakes but refuses to be bound by guilt. She acknowledges the pain her mother caused but rejects the role of victim.
The memoir opens in Paris, where James Jones, flush with the success of his bestselling, 1951 National Book Award-winning novel, From Here to Eternity, is living the expat life with his young bride and working on his next WWII book, The Thin Red Line. Kaylie, their first child, recalls an apartment filled with servants and parties; she remembers riding on James Baldwin’s shoulders up the Champs Elysees during a civil rights march and attending elite bilingual schools.
When she is four years old, her parents adopt a little boy of the same age, Jamie, whose foster mother has committed suicide. Though they eventually grow to be close, Kaylie has a tough time adjusting to her new brother. She explores that complicated relationship later in her moving autobiographical novel, A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries, which was adapted by Merchant-Ivory into a film starring Kris Kristofferson as the father.
When Kaylie and Jamie are teenagers, their parents move the family back to the U.S., to the Hamptons area of Long Island, where James Jones slowly succumbs to congestive heart failure exacerbated by decades of heavy drinking.
“I watched the light go out of my father’s eyes,” Kaylie writes of her father’s moments. “He arched his back, squeezed my mother’s hand until their knuckles turned white, and the heart monitor took much too long to flatline…The image of my father’s green eyes clouding over has haunted me all my life. It was 7 p.m. pm May 9, 1977. I was sixteen years old.”
With her beloved father gone, Kaylie sets out to gain a better understanding of the man and his work, and begins a lifelong commitment to preserving his legacy, including starting the James Jones First Novel Fellowship, awarded by the James Jones Literary Society. Along the way, she establishes friendships with military veterans—including Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic, famously portrayed by Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July and Jon Voight in the movie Coming Home—who revere her father for his accurate and insightful portrayal of soldiers during WWII.
At the same time, she labors to emerge from her father’s shadow to find her own voice as a writer, winning critical praise for her novels and discovering that she loves teaching. Despite her hard work, heavy drinking takes its toll, physically and emotionally. It takes years of blackouts and bad relationships before she accepts that she is an alcoholic.
But the excruciating process of kicking her own addiction is almost easy compared with trying to fulfill her father’s deathbed request: “You’ve got to get your mother to stop drinking so much.” As Gloria’s drinking increases, she becomes ever more abusive and erratic. Kaylie’s attempts to help her mother only heighten the hostility between them.
With a loving husband and a daughter of her own, Kaylie works to break free from the cycle of anger. She begins studying Taekwondo, pushing her body beyond what she ever dreamed possible and ultimately earning a Black Belt. But she gains more than physical strength—she finally has the emotional courage to accept that she cannot save her mother, nor win her approval.
“The dark carrion bird of guilt and shame suddenly loosened its talons and lifted off from my shoulders and flew away,” she writes. “It was over. And I was free.” LIES MY MOTHER NEVER TOLD ME is a triumphant story about knowing when to persevere—and when to let go.
About the Author :
Kaylie Jones is the author of several novels, including her debut book, As Soon As It Rainsand the semi-autobiographical A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries, which was adapted into a film starring Kris Kristofferson, Barbara Hershey, and Leelee Sobieski . Her other novels include Celeste Ascending, Speak Now and Quite the Other Way. In between novels, she writes short stories and screenplays.
Committed to nurturing the careers of aspiring writers, she has taught for years, both at the university level and in classes for “at risk” New York City teenagers. She also chairs the James Jones First Novel Fellowship.
Born in Paris, she is fluent in French and began studying Russian as her third language at the age of eight. She now lives in Manhattan with her husband Kevin and their daughter Eyrna.
Will be a Featured Alternate Selection of Book-of-the-Month Club, Quality Paperback Book Club, and BOMC2
LIES MY MOTHER NEVER TOLD ME
By Kaylie Jones
William Morrow
Publication Date: August 25, 2009
ISBN: 9780061778704
Price: $25.99 US/ $33.99 Can.
Large Print: ISBN: 9780061883712 $25.99/ $33.99
E-Book: ISBN: 9780061936487 $25.99/ $33.99