A Lotus Grows in the Mud

Goldie Hawn

 

In this candid, insightful and unconventional memoir, which was a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, Goldie Hawn invites us to join her in an inspirational look back at the people, places, and events that have touched her. It is the spiritual journey of a heart in search of enlightenment.

 

With her trademark effervescence, Goldie delivers a personal look at private and powerful events that carried her through life: her father’s spontaneity; her mother’s courage; the joy of being a daughter, a sister, a parent, and a lover.

 

She writes about her childhood dreams of becoming a ballerina. She takes us on a tour of her go-go years in 1960s New York City, the phenomenon of TV’s Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, her Oscar-wining debut in Cactus Flower, and Hollywood stardom. She writes intimately about the challenges of love, anger and fear, and the importance of compassion and integrity.

 

She speaks openly about her family, her partner Kurt Russell, her children, her faith, her curiosity for that which she doesn’t yet know, and her thirst for knowledge. Most of all, it is a trip back through a life well lived by a woman well loved.

 

Read an extract from this book

What the critics say

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Read an Extract

 

MY EYES are too big, my nose is too flat, my ears stick out, my mouth is too big and my face is too small. The only thing I really like about myself is my hair. My body is as thin as a clarinet and my ankles are so skinny I wear two pairs of bobby socks because I don’t want anybody to see how thin they are.

 

‘The trouble is,’ I tell Nixi as I grimace into the bathroom mirror each night, ‘I just don’t look like the other girls.’ Nixi licks my hand devotedly and thumps his tail on the floor to show me he doesn’t care.

 

I can’t say what exactly separates me from the rest of my classmates but I just feel different; out of step somehow. I sometimes wish I could blend better with the other girls who form tight cliques and pride themselves on how they look.

 

When I’m not practising or rehearsing ballet, I go to the dances at the church every Friday night. Sneaking off to the bathroom, I stuff my Double-A bra with lamb’s wool that I use at the end of my toe shoes, to make my breasts look bigger.

 

Every time a slow tune comes on, I wait around on the edge of the dance floor, hopeful that I might be asked, but when I realize I won’t, I wind my way to the bathroom to put on more pink frosted lipstick and lift my ponytail higher. Unfortunately, the only thing I can see is my ears sticking out. If only I had some chewing gum, I could paste them back to the side of my head…

 

What the Critics Say

 

“This book is pure gold” --- Variety

 

“Remarkable…Goldie Hawn tells the story of her life with self-deprecating wit and real emotional honesty.” Daily Mail

 

“A warm and honest book that attempts to give something to the reader and succeeds.” The Sunday Independent

 

“A good-natured and engagingly ingenuous read.” The Sunday Telegraph

 

“An excellent glimpse into the hidden depths of a decent and delightful human being….A must-read book” --- Sunday Express

 

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