Lies My Mother Never Told Me: A Memoir

Kaylie Jones's memoir recounts her struggle with alcoholism and her efforts to build a life independent of her famous father and emotionally abusive mother. Raised in the Hamptons and France during the 1960s and '70s, Jones grew up in a household of privilege. Her father, James Jones, was a National Book Award–winning author of four World War II novels. Her mother, Gloria, was known for her wit and beauty. The family home, centered around an eighteenth-century wooden pulpit from a French village church that served as a bar, hosted writers, actors, directors, diplomats, and other notable figures. Jones's father instilled in her the importance of humility, hard work, and education. From her mother, she learned cruelty and emotional harm. After her father died of heart failure at age sixteen, Jones struggled with her own drinking, blackouts, hangovers, rage, and depression. She eventually found the courage to confront her addiction by reading her father's novels and writing her own story. The memoir explores her personal evolution, family secrets, and her journey toward finding her own voice and building a life of strength and possibility.