Brave

Actress and director McGowan's disturbing and captivating memoir is a scathing indictment of Hollywood, which she calls a "cult," as well as a riveting account of survival. McGowan was born in Italy to American parents involved in a religious group called the Children of God and was physically abused by members of the group as a child. Her father eventually fled to the U.S. with McGowan, her siblings, and his second wife. McGowan, however, says that she continued to suffer from mistreatment and neglect; for a time in her teens she was hungry and homeless, living on the streets in Oregon. After a chance encounter with a friend with Hollywood connections, McGowan made her way to Los Angeles, where she won parts in such films as Scream and later landed a role in the hit TV series Charmed. Readers will find her graphic description of being sexually assaulted by a notorious but unnamed studio head to be repellant and raw. McGowan's struggle to endure in her career (she writes that she was blacklisted after the assault) leads to her fearless unveiling of the injustices and "systemic misogyny" that she claims are rampant in Hollywood. A chapter titled "Cult of Thought" is a call to action, promoting a new order in which women (and men) are valued for their creative differences. Frank and bold, this memoir is a resounding wakeup call to the entertainment industry and to society as a whole. (Jan.)