LOVE ME AS I AM

One of the stars of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills talks about real life.

Haitian American actor and podcast host Beauvais (b. 1966), whose TV credits include Housewives, NYPD Blue, Family Matters, and The Mentalist, makes her adult book debut (she has published several children’s books) with a disarmingly candid memoir, co-authored by Smith. Beauvais recalls growing up in a middle-class neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, surrounded by warmth, color, family, and friends. Her mother, a nurse, immigrated to the U.S. first, then brought little Garcelle to join her in Massachusetts. Although she knew no English and was the only Black child in her school, she managed to thrive. When she was 17, she was offered modeling jobs in New York City, where she reveled in newfound freedom and independence. Besides working for Eileen Ford, she finagled her way to becoming a Playboy Bunny even though she was underage. Married at 22, she soon became a mother, but by the time her son was 3, the marriage ended. Fortunately, her career took off. Modeling led to acting: In the 1990s, she appeared in Models, Inc. and The Jamie Foxx Show; many other opportunities followed. “I am a woman who is proud of her success but hasn’t completely bought into it,” writes the author, who shares many juicy backstage tidbits: A weeklong gig on The View proved dismal because of the hostile atmosphere among the women on the show; and her co-stars on Housewives could lash out viciously: “I was caught off guard by how venomous” they could be, she admits. Beauvais is forthright about personal issues, including her first husband’s immaturity; the betrayal that led to her second divorce; her “angst, fear, helplessness, and worry” about her oldest son’s emotional problems and substance abuse; her experience with in vitro fertilization (and the birth of twin sons); beauty; spirituality; the plight of Black actresses; and sex.

Dishy, warm, and entertaining.