Always Wear Joy: My Mother Bold and Beautiful [Hardcover]

Susan Fales-Hill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2003

Growing up with a black, Auntie Mame -- like mother who performed with the likes of Lena Horne and Alvin Ailey, and a WASP seafaring father, Susan Fales-Hill thought nothing of watching her mother, Josephine Premice, perform in an acclaimed Broadway musical one moment and fleeing to Faleton, her grandparents' summer estate, the next.

But it was from her mother -- a woman who was dressed by Givenchy and sculpted by Alexander Calder, yet rejected by many a casting agent for her "dark," unconventional looks -- that Susan drew inspiration, particularly when she faced challenges in her own career as a television writer in Hollywood, a town that wasn't always receptive to positive images of people of color. As a result, the two developed a bond that mothers and daughters everywhere will find inspiring.

Dazzling in their public lives and emotionally vulnerable in their private lives, there is not a person in this touching and, at times, funny family memoir that the reader will soon forget.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Josephine Premice, a beautiful and talented performer who never achieved the fame of contemporaries Diahann Carroll and Lena Horne, was equally dazzling as a wife and mother. Fales-Hill recalls the eclectic and effervescent family life spawned by her glamorous Haitian-born mother and a seafaring WASP father, circulating from Italy to New York's Upper West Side to Harlem to a wealthy Connecticut estate, with side trips to Broadway and Hollywood. Premice's career suffered as a result of the thin prospects for entertainers considered too black for the 1950s and not black enough for the opportunities that came later. Fales-Hill, a television producer, had her own struggles with stereotypical images of the black experience, which didn't include her privileged background or personal insecurities about her mixed racial heritage. She idealized her parents' marriage, overlooking her mother's profligacy and her father's philandering. But she fully appreciates the great joy and glamour of her mother--always outfitted in high heels and false eyelashes--as well as other black divas and their gift for living an exuberant life. Vanessa Bush
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Review

“Moving and beautifully rendered.” (Town & Country )

“[An] extraordinary story.” (Essence )

“This love-filled, uplifting book will gladden your heart, moisten your eyes, and leave you smiling at the end.” (Malachy McCourt, author of A Monk Swimming: A Memoir )

“A distinguished memoir as well as an important contribution to black cultural history.” (Kirkus Reviews (Starred) )

“A daughter’s ode to her mother who showed her ‘infinity instead of . . .limitations.’ This is no Mommie Dearest.” (Andre Leon Talley, Vogue )

“A daughter’s ode to her mother who showed her ‘infinity instead of . . .limitations.’ This is no Mommie Dearest.” (Vogue )

“A moving tribute from a daughter to a mother [and] a book about the undefeatable spirit of black women everywhere.” (E. Lynn Harris )

“At last, at last a memoir by a daughter who appreciates and loves her mother, at last.” (Bill Cosby )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1 edition (April 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060523565
• ISBN-13: 978-0060523565
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #397,264 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a loving ode to motherhood, May 2, 2003

By 

eclectictastes "eclectictastes" (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Always Wear Joy: My Mother Bold and Beautiful (Hardcover)

Susan Fales Hill, a writer and producer of such shows as A Different World and Linc's, learned her life lessons from her mother Josephine Premice, a singer and stage actress who never received the acclaim or attention that she deserved. Fales-Hill tries to rectify this situation by writing a loving memoir of her mother. Premice, who made sporadic television appearances here and there during the last decade of her life, always maintained her dignity whatever the situation be it a philandering husband or Hollywood executives full of arrogant ignorance who believed that she wasn't representative of Black women.

Fales interweaves her own struggles as a writer in Hollywood and finds that her experiences parallel her mother's. Along the way, we are introduced to writers and producers who lecture Fales-Hill that characters such as Denise Huxtable are "not Black enough." We also learn of the struggles of Premice's friends including Diahann Carroll who although more successful in her career than Premice also had her share of frustation.

To the Connecticut reviewer, a slight clarification...there is nothing "new" about this Black society which is the point that Fales-Hill continuously makes in her book. The Black middle/upper class has long been in existence but dismissed by those in the media who could help display that side of the African American community. All the more reason a book like this is just as valuable as works about the underclass.

More than anything, this book is celebration of a special woman by her loving daughter.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a joyous read, April 23, 2003

By 

Harriet R. Wasserman (nyc, new york United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Always Wear Joy: My Mother Bold and Beautiful (Hardcover)

i loved this book primarily because of its' honesty and the beautiful relationship between mother and daughter. although there were tough times, there were also beautiful memories. her mother imparted very important messages to the author. i remember seeing josephine premice in bubbling brown sugar and thought she was fantastic. it's a shame that her career didn't go as far as it should have, but she did a great job raising her children and had lots of friends and people who loved her. growing up in nyc i'm not surprised about upper class black people. on some of the tv sitcoms that i've watched in the past i'm surprised by how silly they try to make black people look. i think the author's work on some of tv shows she worked on was really much better fare.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Only problem - too short, May 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Always Wear Joy: My Mother Bold and Beautiful (Hardcover)

I have followed the career of Mrs. Fales-Hill since she was on A Different World. I loved Linc's, and when I read that she was writing a book about her mother's life, I knew I had to read it.

This book, at its core, is an homage from a daughter to a mother. The special bond that they share. There isn't a daughter alive that can't see themselves in the truthful and honest portrayal Fales-Hill reveals.

Reading the book, you also realize the depth of the difficulties for Black performers in those days. How literally there was no work, and you had all these extremely talented men and women and no outlets by which they could display their talent.

It's a history lesson.

I loved how Fales-Hill spoke about the world in which she grew up, and the outrageousness of being told by Hollywood that the life she knew didn't exist. I had to shake my head at that idiocy - being told by someone White, that the Blacks Fales-Hill wanted to show - didn't exist.

And People wonder why the entertainment industry has problems.

This book was honest, and thoughtful. It's a piece of AMERICAN history, and Fales-Hill struck me as someone who had finally come into her own and accepted ALL of who she is. By giving this testament to the Beautiful, talented Black woman that was her mother, she honors all of us.

As an African-American woman, I thank Susan Fales-Hill for giving us this piece of our history.