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.
By Fraser Penney
