Review by Booklist Review
Lilyville is Feldshuh's mother's sphere and the setting for this lively and engaging narrative. The Emmy and Tony Award--nominated actress skillfully spins stories of her mother's life, her own career, and their evolving relationship against a backdrop of half-a-century of a changing society and women's expanding roles within it. Born Terri Sue Feldshuh and raised in Scarsdale, New York, during the 1950s, Feldshuh has a lot to say and does so with aplomb, whether revisiting her suburban teenage roots or recounting her adventures as an aspiring performer. With a résumé that includes television roles in the miniseries Holocaust, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and The Walking Dead as well as Broadway turns in Yentl, Pippin, and Golda's Balcony, here her personal life takes center stage. In a look-back that is always intense, often hilarious, and sometimes fraught she writes, "the greatest role of my life has been the role of Lillian Kaplan Feldshuh's daughter--a part I never auditioned for, and I couldn't have been luckier to get." Readers will feel lucky to encounter this delightful memoir.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Feldshuh, a storied and celebrated actor of stage and screen, shares an intimate, entertaining memoir of her life and career. In this uniquely structured book, she reflects on her life as if it were a theatrical production; the central character is her mother, Lily. Feldshuh's relationship with her mother is a complicated and boisterous one that transforms throughout the years, especially alongside the rise of her career. Feldshuh's portrayal of Lily is striking; her thoughtful understanding of their dynamic and Lily's influence on her life and career, infused with her mother's candor, will delight readers. The heart of this book lies in the author's captivating writing--she is a dynamic storyteller with an actor's skill for articulating small moments that occur in everyday life. She captures growing up in New York, Jewish culture, and the entertainment industry with equal enthusiasm and detail. VERDICT A vivid, charming memoir and reflection on an expansive career and family, which will delight memoir fans. This book will appeal to performing arts enthusiasts and fans of witty family memoirs. Readers who enjoy peeking into the personal and professional lives of performers may also enjoy Home Work by Julie Andrews. --Kate Bellody, SUNY New Paltz
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A stage and screen actor remembers her many roles, including her most cherished one as the daughter of her complicated mother, Lily. Feldshuh (b. 1952) credits Lily, who "was born on a dining room table in the Bronx on April 18, 1911," for passing down the ability to make a "memorable entrance." However, for most of the author's life, their relationship was fraught and complicated, characterized by an emotional divide that lasted for decades. A glamorously beautiful but judgmental traditionalist, Lily lived for her husband. Her love for her children, writes Feldshuh, "was never verbally expressed." As the author nurtured her love of singing and theater and grew into a privileged adolescence, she became increasingly resentful of Lily's fault-finding ways. Even after she won a prestigious McKnight Fellowship to study theater at the University of Minnesota, Lily, who considered acting a "trade" rather than a reputable profession, could only ask, "What did I do wrong?" Nonetheless, Feldshuh was dedicated, and she worked her way up from bit parts to the lead role in the play Yentl in December 1974. Despite this success and the recognition that followed, Lily only seemed to approve of her daughter once she married a Harvard-trained lawyer. Their combative relationship persisted through Feldshuh's moves to Hollywood and permanent return to New York and up until Feldshuh's beloved father died in 1996. Only after that tragic loss did Lily finally begin to express the "rich, emotional life" that finally healed the rift with her daughter. Interspersed throughout with anecdotes about Barbara Streisand, Patti LuPone, and other luminaries as well as the author's late-life role on The Walking Dead, the book serves as a pleasant retrospective of a storied life that Feldshuh's fans and those interested in the NYC theater scene will no doubt appreciate. A warm, heartfelt memoir for Broadway and Hollywood enthusiasts. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
