This is one of my favourite books on Marilyn because it actually let's us in on the a side of her life that we don't know a lot
about. Berniece Miracle Baker was Marilyn's half sister and kept her silence for many years until she felt the time was
right for the world to know about her relationship with Marilyn with the help of her daughter Mona Rae Miracle.
There's been many books on Marilyn over the years and to be honest it's almost impossible to tell the complete story of
her life; where there's not much sources of information available, authors will either fail to mention or make up details to
fill their pages. So much so that Marilyn's life is often scrutinised, exploited and misconstrued far beyond the truth.
Marilyn would be twelve years old before Berniece knew of her existence. Berniece had for many years tried to locate
her mother, Gladys. All she had was a few documents in a box. Gladys was diagnosed as mentally ill and was unable to
care for her family so both girls grew up feeling abandoned and alone. She writes about the person behind the public
image and the complicated relationship they both had with their mother.
Books like Berniece's that tend to focus on the fragments of her life I feel are among the most enjoyable because they
reflect solely on her memories of the times she spent with Marilyn. Over the years Berniece would read too many
accounts of their lives filled with so many errors that they presented a story she could barely recognise. Berniece was
keen to erase the myth that Marilyn had no family to care for her.
The book was originally published for Marilyn's birthday on June 1, 1994.
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