Kathryn Sermak

First and foremost thank you NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

My experience and knowledge of Bette Davis come from her expansive body of work during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She has always been this Hollywood queen to me and I did not know about her later years in life. Unlike most stars from her era, Davis never shied away from the spotlight, in fact, she seemed to search it out. Kathryn Sermak who Davis eventually begins to call Cath remarks on her time with the legendary actress and the time they spent together.

I was not expecting to come away from this novel feeling as if Miss D was my best friend and that I had just lost her, even though the star had passed many years ago. Sermak does a wonderful job of bringing us back to her adventures that bring us to all different sort of places such as New York, LA, and Paris. Along the way, we learn some important life lessons from Davis who, Sermak reveals to us the star liked things to be orderly and prefers things done her way.

Sermak shows us a different side of Davis, one that seems to be completely different from the persona her daughter Bede wrote in her book. The adventures the two share will make you want to go road tripping in Europe with your grandmother only your grandmother is probably not as cool as Miss D (or maybe she is, I don’t know your grandmother that well).

I can’t even complain about this book since this is the book Bette Davis asked Sermak to write. She wanted this story to be told so how can you hate on that. Sermak writes with such a warmth and inclusion that it feels as if you are on these adventures with them. You can tell that Sermak remembers her old employer fondly and wanted to portray her honestly which Miss D would be proud.

I really enjoyed memoirs of this type since you get to know the person and the person they are writing about. The last book I read that was similar to this was Dear Cary by Dyan Cannon which I also loved.… (mais)

A great look at Bette Davis by her assistant who was with her the last 10 years of her life. Sermak was young and just out of college when hired by Davis who had a "hunch" they would work well together While it was difficult for Sermak at first, Davis took her in hand and became a mentor to her, teaching her how to dress and do all the things a personal assistant would do. While there were times Davis might have wanted to fire Sermak or Sermak wanted to quit, they eventually developed a good relationship which really comes through in this book. The description of their trip driving around in France in priceless and shows a different side of Davis Davis' courage in facing several health problems - breast cancer, mastectomy, stroke, broken hip, and recurrence of cancer shows want a strong woman Davis was. Sermak took good care of Davis and fulfilled her final wishes. I only wish Sermak would have mentioned if she knew she had been included in Davis' will since she ended up getting almost half the estate.… (mais)