Laura Dern, Diane Ladd lay bare personal challenges in upcoming book

Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love beautifully catalogs the vulnerable stories between an ailing mother and her progeny.

When artist Diane Ladd was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness and given six months to live, her only daughter and fellow actor, Laura Dern, determined to aid Ladd reconstruct her lung capacity through doctor-prescribed walks.

Inspired to turn the difficult daily tasks into a “creative challenge” for her mother, Dern decided to record their conversations.

She then encouraged Ladd to share personal stories about everything under the sun; from life in show business to intimate domestic details and even coveted family recipes.

Those conversations form the basis for Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love.

Although Ladd was apparently misdiagnosed and did ultimately overcome the illness that doctors thought would take her, she and Dern revealed that the honesty they harbored on those walks made their relationship stronger than ever. A beautiful insight.

It is fitting that this book would be released around Mother’s Day. 

Honey, Baby, Mine is mostly a series of heart-warming personal conversations between a daughter and her sick mom.

And the stoniest of hearts might even shed a tear or two; this is due to the prowess of this storyteller. It forces one to evaluate their relationship with their mother too.

But it also revealed the occasional Hollywood gossip, even if it is in a wholesome kind of way.

As seasoned performers, both Ladd and Dern understand the public’s obsession with pulling back the curtain on the lives of celebrities and that rightfully this book aims to satisfy.

And while the vulnerability may seem like a glimpse into the lives of these two women, it is difficult to grasp, given their recognition of the fact that their conversations will be made public, how much of that vulnerability is genuine.