For fans of the classic television show Little House on the Prairie, child star Melissa Gilbert grew up in an amazing fantasy world with an adventurous, heroic father, friends and family she could always rely on, and lots of animal friends to play with.
She was a natural star who was extremely charismatic in front of the cameras, but her life was a bit different behind the scenes. Being adopted as a baby by a family legendary in the entertainment business, Melissa struggled with questions about who she was and fount it difficult to maintain the portrait of perfection that her mother forced on her. Only after years and years of drug abuse, dysfunctional relationships, and a continually foundering career in show business did she finally start to find herself.
With amazing honesty and humor, the beloved child actress recounts her trials and tribulations through her life from akward ugly-duckling Laura "Half-pint" Ingalls to being a Hollywood starlet, a wife, and a mother. She hung out with the Brat Pack, had relationships with Hollywood bad-boys like Billy Idol, and started on a self-destructive downward spiral of addiction and co-dependence. After her first marriage left her in debt, she finally realized that her career on television had brought happiness to everyone except herself.
Thanks to hard work, dedication, sobriety, and her friends and family, Melissa Gilbert has welcomed herself for who she is and learned to laugh, love, cry, forgive, and enjoy life. Women around the world may have deified her idyllic character on Little House on the Prairie, but Melissa's own brutally honest autobiography is an inspiration for everyone.
