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Narrow Is the Way
The author shows how she reached out to her mother, Bette Davis, in the midst of controversy as both a loving daughter and a committed Christian
- GenresBiography
285 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1987
46 people want to read
About the author
B.D. Hyman
5 books9 followersB. D. Hyman (born Barbara Davis Sherry), aka B.D. Merrill, is an American author and pastor. Hyman is the daughter of actress Bette Davis and artist William Sherry. A born-again Christian, Hyman is the head of her own ministry and Pastor of her church based in Charlottesville, Virginia.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 11, 2013
I can't say anything different so I'll repeat myself!
This is the harshest, most self-serving compilation of garbage I've ever read. Bette Davis may not have been perfect but as I see it, she kept that girl warm, fed, and catered to like she was a fairy princess. That was her biggest mistake.
What I want to know, considering Christian charity, is why doesn't BD have any, if she's such a big Christian?
She's one of those false prophets, in it for the money, nothing else. I happen to be an atheist but part of me hopes there is some sort of reckoning for Christians like her.
Despicable. That's it in one word. Despicable.
I'm just glad I got the book from Amazon for less than $1.
Plus I read in an article that the reason they went to the Bahamas was to escape debt run up in the USA!!!
This is the harshest, most self-serving compilation of garbage I've ever read. Bette Davis may not have been perfect but as I see it, she kept that girl warm, fed, and catered to like she was a fairy princess. That was her biggest mistake.
What I want to know, considering Christian charity, is why doesn't BD have any, if she's such a big Christian?
She's one of those false prophets, in it for the money, nothing else. I happen to be an atheist but part of me hopes there is some sort of reckoning for Christians like her.
Despicable. That's it in one word. Despicable.
I'm just glad I got the book from Amazon for less than $1.
Plus I read in an article that the reason they went to the Bahamas was to escape debt run up in the USA!!!
July 17, 2015
"Narrow is the Way" is Hyman's followup to her bestseller "My Mother's Keeper" about her dysfunctional relation with her mother, Bette Davis. It's also the story about how the authors (B.D. and her husband Jeremy are both credited as authors although the book is written from B.D.'s point of view) became born again Christians. I found some parts of the book interesting, when it dealt with the controversy around the previous book and her relationship with her mother. Parts of the story of their religious conversion were somewhat interesting but it did seem a bit strange how they went from skeptic agnostics to devout Christians attending faith healing meetings, in such a short period of time. Much of the book deals with the Hyman family's move to Bahamas and how they helped build a church there and this didn't interest me at all, nor did I care to read about their lobster fishing trips. I still didn't feel I really got to know them. I kept wondering how they could support themselves and their family and affort to move to Bahamas and buy a boat, with neither of them working.
Hyman says her reason for writing "My Mother's Keeper" was to reach out to her mother when all other attempts to communicate had failed. I can buy her rationale, but I don't see how this sequel could serve any such purpose. It only seemed self-serving and again insulting to her mother. Only recommended to those who are really interested in the controversy about "My Mother's Keeper".
(Review from Sept 2013)
Hyman says her reason for writing "My Mother's Keeper" was to reach out to her mother when all other attempts to communicate had failed. I can buy her rationale, but I don't see how this sequel could serve any such purpose. It only seemed self-serving and again insulting to her mother. Only recommended to those who are really interested in the controversy about "My Mother's Keeper".
(Review from Sept 2013)
February 10, 2026
Oh dear! B.D. and Jeremy Hyman appear to have been so strapped for money when B.D.'s mother, Bette Davis, despite the odds, survived her stroke and cut them off financially. Bette had always supported them, but after the pair wrote a very one-sided, often rebuked, far from kind book about her, relations soured. The Hymans immediately started work on the sequel. I read it online for free as I was curious to find out what their reaction was to the backlash which the aforementioned book, 'My Mother's Keeper,' received.
Their publishers can't have been fussy about its contents, because 'Narrow is the Way' is one boring book. It is partly the story of how the Hymans - very quickly - found God and became Born Again Christians. The other part extensively covers Hyman's promotional tour of 'My Mother's Keeper,' in which she (or her husband) writes about every chat show she went on. Self-serving isn't the word. To quote B.D. when she was describing the public's reaction to her at an airport, "It felt as though half the population of the United States were there, and no less than half of them wanted to say hello and shake my hand. I don't think I ever shaken hands with so many strangers in my life. It reached the point where I was giving serious thought to sunglasses and a dark wig.'' Who did she think she was? Bette Davis?
As for Davis, she receives yet another battering within its pages, so much for Christianity. B.D. does, however, state, "... I loved the person who suckled me, raised me, spoiled me, and loved me." Perhaps the problem is that Bette spoiled her too much.
Interestingly, in a documentary years later, Bette's adopted son, Michael, said that he pleaded with his sister not to publish the book, to which she said, "Well, I've already taken some money.'' ''Well give them the money back,'' he replied. But in 'Narrow is the Way,' B.D. claims that when she did speak to Michael, on the phone, he said he hoped she knew what she was doing and trusted her judgment. She claims it was a friendly chat, which ended with exchanges of love and best wishes to their families. As Michael hasn't spoken to his sister since the book, I am much more inclined to believe him.
Like Hyman's first book, this one is badly written. I thought it was particularly childish and downright nasty on at least two occasions.
The first was when she visited her mother, who was writing her own book. Not once did B.D. tell Bette that she had written a book which was ready for publication. To quote, "I shook hands with mother's new editor, it was all I could do to stop myself from collapsing into a puddle of laughter. The lawyer knows what the daughter has done. The editor knows what the daughter has done, and also knows that the lawyer knows, because it was probably he who told him in the first place. The daughter knows that the lawyer and the editor know. The lawyer and the editor know that the daughter knows they know. Everybody knows everything, except the mother, who doesn't know anything because he daughter won't tell her, and the lawyer and the editor are afraid to.''
The second was when the Hymans were watching an interview with Bette. The interviewer asked her what her biggest disappointment was. Bette replied that it was her daughter's book. Then, a picture of 'My Mother's Keeper' appeared on screen. As stated in this book: "It was only two weeks before I was due to start my paperback tour, and mother had unwittingly engineered a free plug for the book. Jermey and I laughed so hard that I don't know whether there was any more to the interview. They also mocked Bette's gay fanbase.
B.D. expected her readers to believe that she felt she had to write the book about her mother as an act of Christian charity, to save her soul. She later changed her story. We were expected to believe that she had no choice and therefore we should feel sorry for her. To this reader, she failed on both counts. 'Narrow is the Way' was written by two people who come across as very unlikable and extremely narrow-minded. The book bombed and they later made their living by running a cult, flogging their self-published books and audio cassettes 'in the name of the Lord.' My advice is to skip this horrible book, and buy Bette Davis' 'This 'N That' instead.
Their publishers can't have been fussy about its contents, because 'Narrow is the Way' is one boring book. It is partly the story of how the Hymans - very quickly - found God and became Born Again Christians. The other part extensively covers Hyman's promotional tour of 'My Mother's Keeper,' in which she (or her husband) writes about every chat show she went on. Self-serving isn't the word. To quote B.D. when she was describing the public's reaction to her at an airport, "It felt as though half the population of the United States were there, and no less than half of them wanted to say hello and shake my hand. I don't think I ever shaken hands with so many strangers in my life. It reached the point where I was giving serious thought to sunglasses and a dark wig.'' Who did she think she was? Bette Davis?
As for Davis, she receives yet another battering within its pages, so much for Christianity. B.D. does, however, state, "... I loved the person who suckled me, raised me, spoiled me, and loved me." Perhaps the problem is that Bette spoiled her too much.
Interestingly, in a documentary years later, Bette's adopted son, Michael, said that he pleaded with his sister not to publish the book, to which she said, "Well, I've already taken some money.'' ''Well give them the money back,'' he replied. But in 'Narrow is the Way,' B.D. claims that when she did speak to Michael, on the phone, he said he hoped she knew what she was doing and trusted her judgment. She claims it was a friendly chat, which ended with exchanges of love and best wishes to their families. As Michael hasn't spoken to his sister since the book, I am much more inclined to believe him.
Like Hyman's first book, this one is badly written. I thought it was particularly childish and downright nasty on at least two occasions.
The first was when she visited her mother, who was writing her own book. Not once did B.D. tell Bette that she had written a book which was ready for publication. To quote, "I shook hands with mother's new editor, it was all I could do to stop myself from collapsing into a puddle of laughter. The lawyer knows what the daughter has done. The editor knows what the daughter has done, and also knows that the lawyer knows, because it was probably he who told him in the first place. The daughter knows that the lawyer and the editor know. The lawyer and the editor know that the daughter knows they know. Everybody knows everything, except the mother, who doesn't know anything because he daughter won't tell her, and the lawyer and the editor are afraid to.''
The second was when the Hymans were watching an interview with Bette. The interviewer asked her what her biggest disappointment was. Bette replied that it was her daughter's book. Then, a picture of 'My Mother's Keeper' appeared on screen. As stated in this book: "It was only two weeks before I was due to start my paperback tour, and mother had unwittingly engineered a free plug for the book. Jermey and I laughed so hard that I don't know whether there was any more to the interview. They also mocked Bette's gay fanbase.
B.D. expected her readers to believe that she felt she had to write the book about her mother as an act of Christian charity, to save her soul. She later changed her story. We were expected to believe that she had no choice and therefore we should feel sorry for her. To this reader, she failed on both counts. 'Narrow is the Way' was written by two people who come across as very unlikable and extremely narrow-minded. The book bombed and they later made their living by running a cult, flogging their self-published books and audio cassettes 'in the name of the Lord.' My advice is to skip this horrible book, and buy Bette Davis' 'This 'N That' instead.
July 14, 2024
Great book .
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews