by Diane Keaton (Fourth Estate)

When Diane Keaton was in the ninth grade, she vowed that she would never get married. Turning sixty-six this year, she has still not married, even though it hasn’t stopped her having affairs with many of her leading men including Woody Allen, Warren Beatty and Al Pachino.

And it didn’t stop her having a family, even though she was in her fifties when she adopted a girl and boy named Dexter and Duke.

The eldest of four children, Keaton discovered the thrill of applause at an early age. Determined to be loved by the masses, she carved a successful acting career and has starred in some memorable films. Regarding her mother as the most important influence in her life, she was devastated when she lost her to Alzheimer’s.

When she discovered her mother’s scrapbooks and journals, she wanted to ‘unravel the mystery that was her mother’s life’ and she discovered a ‘self-made prison of secrets and lies’. Keaton tells her life story and finds parallels with her mother’s memoirs and mementos.

This is an interesting tale because, although Keaton did not indulge in drugs or alcohol, she still had her dark secrets and, like her mother, discovered the healing power of writing.

Lezly Herbert

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