From
Goodreads ~
Growing up, Jenny Pentland's life was a literal sitcom. Many of the storylines for her mother's smash hit series, "Roseanne", were drawn from Pentland's early family life in working-class Denver. But that was only the beginning of the drama. Roseanne Barr's success as a comedian catapulted the family from the Rockies to star-studded Hollywood - with its toxic culture of money, celebrity, and prying tabloids that was destabilizing for a child in grade school.
By adolescence, Jenny struggled with anxiety and eating issues. Her parents and new stepfather, struggling to help, responded by sending Jenny and her siblings on a grand tour of the self-help movement of the '80s - from fat camps to brat camps, wilderness survival programs to drug rehab clinics (even though Jenny didn't take drugs). Becoming an adult, all Jenny wanted was to get married and have kids, despite Roseanne's admonishments not to limit herself to being just a wife and mother.
Pentland reveals what it's like to grow up as the daughter of a television star and how she navigated the turmoil, eventually finding her own path. Now happily married and raising five sons on a farm, Pentland has worked tirelessly to create the stable family she never had, while coming to terms at last with her deep-seated anxiety.
Jenny Pentland is the second daughter/child of Roseann Barr. I've never been a fan of Roseanne Barr but I do like reading bios/autobios so thought her daughter's story would be interesting.
Before Barr became famous as a comedian and actress, money in the Pentland household was tight. Once Barr became well-known, things changed. The family moved to California when the show "Roseanne" was being developed and filmed. Barr had no time for her children and Jenny, her older sister Jessica, and younger brother Jake, spent their summers in fat camps. Jenny and Jessica then spent their teenage years in reform schools, psych wards and survival camps. It was sad that their parents didn't "listen" to their children and instead had them put in these places to fix them because they had a good insurance plan. Barr divorced Bill and married Tom Arnold, who sounds like an a-hole. They split up and she went on to get married again and have another child. She has apparently spent the last 20 years or so in Hawaii with another guy. Jenny married Jake's best friend, Jeff, about 20 years ago. They have four children and live on a farm in Hawaii.
It was a sad story to read because of the way the children were raised and treated. Jenny has a good relationship with her parents now so good for her for being able to forgive and forget ... I don't think I could despite the fact that she feels her parents did the best they could. As a head's up, there is swearing.
