This is the book upon which the wonderful movie "Yours, Mine and Ours" was based. You remember, Lucille Ball played widow and mother of 8 Helen North, who marries a widower played by Henry Fonda, who had 10 children. Chaos and endearing fun ensues. It's one of my favorites.
I am chagrinned to admit I wasn't really aware of this book, however, until I started hearing recently about another book called True North, written by Tom North, who was one of the 18 kids depicted in the movie. In his book, he relates that the movie strayed quite far from the truth:
"Seeing the movie portray my family in a heart-warming context is something that I could only wish was true. It was not. Henry Fonda played the part of Frank Beardsley as a warm, wise and loving man, but the real Frank Beardsley was violent and abusive. The contrast between the movie and the real experience created difficult, conflicting emotions, especially when confronted with a public image that was false. I was expected to support a lie in public when all I wanted to do was scream the truth, and to escape."
Wow. I haven't yet read that book, but because of it, I sought out "Who Gets the Drumstick". I found this book to be overly saccherine. I am not surprised that Helen (North) Beardsley would want to depict her family in such glowing terms, but it was so overwhelmingly upbeat as to be implausible.
According to her recounting here, there were virtually no squabbles or conflicts, no trouble or resistance at all to quickly assimilate into one big family. Here, kids from toddlers to teens happily and gaily and without prompting cleaned and cooked and babysat and played in perfect harmony from the get-go. Her husband, Frank, was stoic, solid, smart, romantic and without a trace of anger or resentment. It eventually read falsely to me, as unbelievable, even with the understanding that the book was published back in 1965, when the world was a far gentler place and no one wanted to know what really went on behind closed doors.
Alas, I am really on the lookout for True North. Not that I want this wonderful story sullied, but the truth does have a place, and I believe the truth is probably somewhere between this book's version and that book's version. I want to read both in order to have a solid opinion.
**1/2 Two and a half stars
I am chagrinned to admit I wasn't really aware of this book, however, until I started hearing recently about another book called True North, written by Tom North, who was one of the 18 kids depicted in the movie. In his book, he relates that the movie strayed quite far from the truth:
"Seeing the movie portray my family in a heart-warming context is something that I could only wish was true. It was not. Henry Fonda played the part of Frank Beardsley as a warm, wise and loving man, but the real Frank Beardsley was violent and abusive. The contrast between the movie and the real experience created difficult, conflicting emotions, especially when confronted with a public image that was false. I was expected to support a lie in public when all I wanted to do was scream the truth, and to escape."
Wow. I haven't yet read that book, but because of it, I sought out "Who Gets the Drumstick". I found this book to be overly saccherine. I am not surprised that Helen (North) Beardsley would want to depict her family in such glowing terms, but it was so overwhelmingly upbeat as to be implausible.
According to her recounting here, there were virtually no squabbles or conflicts, no trouble or resistance at all to quickly assimilate into one big family. Here, kids from toddlers to teens happily and gaily and without prompting cleaned and cooked and babysat and played in perfect harmony from the get-go. Her husband, Frank, was stoic, solid, smart, romantic and without a trace of anger or resentment. It eventually read falsely to me, as unbelievable, even with the understanding that the book was published back in 1965, when the world was a far gentler place and no one wanted to know what really went on behind closed doors.
Alas, I am really on the lookout for True North. Not that I want this wonderful story sullied, but the truth does have a place, and I believe the truth is probably somewhere between this book's version and that book's version. I want to read both in order to have a solid opinion.
**1/2 Two and a half stars
