March 22, 2013 / Leslie

Spotlight & Giveaway: Diary of a Stage Mother’s Daughter

I know a lot of my readers enjoy memoirs so I am excited to announce that today I am featuring Diary of a Stage Mother’s Daughter, the recently published book by former child star Melissa Francis who played Cassandra Cooper Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie. Courtesy of the publicist, I also have one copy to giveaway to a reader with a US address.

About the Book

Diary of a Stage Mother’s Daughter:
A Memoir
by Melissa Francis

Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Weinstein Books
Publish Date: March 5, 2013
Format: Hardcover | 304 pages

A dazzling honest and provocative family memoir by former child actress and current Fox Business Network anchor Melissa Francis — both a startling personal story and a cautionary tale for both parents in competitive times.

When Melissa Francis was eight years old, she won the role of lifetime: playing Cassandra Cooper Ingalls, the little girl who was adopted with her brother (played by young Jason Bateman) by the Ingalls family on the world’s most famous prime-time soap opera, Little House on the Prairie. Despite her age, she was already a veteran actress, living a charmed life, moving from one Hollywood set to the next. But behind the scenes, her success was fueled by the pride, pressure, and sometimes grinding cruelty of her stage mother.

While Melissa thrived under pressure, her older sister — who had tried her hand at acting and shrank from the limelight — was often ignored by their mother in a shadow of neglect and disappointment. Tiffany could do nothing to please her mother, but it wasn’t until after Melissa had graduated from Harvard University with a degree in economics, found love, and married that Tiffany’s personal problems culminated in a life-and-death crisis. When Melissa realized the role of her mother continued to play in her sister’s downward spiral, she resolved to end the manic, abusive cycle once and for all.

Diary of a Stage Mother’s Daughter is a fascinating account of life as a child star in the 1980’s, and also a disquieting tale of a family under the care of a highly neurotic, dangerously competitive “tiger mother.” But perhaps most importantly, now that Melissa has two sons of her own, it’s a meditation on motherhood. She asks the questions so many of us ask ourselves: how hard should you push a child to succeed, and at what point does your help turn into harm?

About the Author

Melissa Francis, author of Diary of a Stage Mother’s Daughter, grew up in southern California. As a broadcast journalist, she has anchored CNBC’s Power Lunch, The Call, and On The Money, and served as a regular contributor to the Today show and Weekend Today. Currently she hosts two daily business shows on the Fox Business Network, including Money with Melissa Francis. Francis holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Harvard University. She lives in New York City with her husband and their two sons.

Melissa Francis enjoys discussing her book with her readers and is available for book club meetings as her schedule permits. For more information please visit http://www.melissafrancisofficial.com, and follow the author on Facebook and Twitter.

Giveaway Information

The giveaway is open to those 18 years of age or older with a US mailing address. To enter, leave a comment on or before April 5, 2013. For an extra entry tweet or blog the giveaway and leave the link in your comment. I will draw a random winner who will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond with a mailing address.

[Giveaway has ended]

Winner: techeditor

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