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Rearview Mirror
A rags-to-riches, gritty, and inspirational memoir by Alana Stewart, the former wife of celebrity icons George Hamilton and Rod Stewart.
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First published January 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 5, 2012
This book is really interesting in that many people think having been married to a big movie star (George Hamilton) and a rock star (Rod Stewart) at the height of their popularity means you've probably lived a pretty charmed life or that you're some kind of groupie or something. Not so. Alana candidly describes growing up in poverty in rural Texas, her mother's drug addiction and the unstable environment she grew up in. She left Texas after she was brutally raped in her own apartment and made a life and career for herself in New York. She may have had lots of glamor and glitz, but the darkness, especially in her marriage to Rod, has always been something she's struggled with. Don't let her good looks and blonde hair fool you: This one smart, strong lady who's gotten through a lot in her life. I think fans of The Glass Castle especially will enjoy this book.
September 21, 2016
I liked this and I liked her. Granted, she is very pretty. But, she came from a truly impoverished background with parents who had such problems as to abandon her and let her grandmother raise her. I admire people who make something of themselves from nothing. My gut tells me that she was honest in this bio and did not whitewash the not-so-pristine parts of herself and her life. She seems fairly grounded and strives to better herself to become not only a better parent, but better person. Though she is divorced from both George Hamilton and Rod Stewart, she has maintained a great relationship with Hamilton and a cordial one with Stewart, which has to be tough considering that he hasn't been a good partner or parent. I come away from reading this with respect and admiration for her and hope that she continues on her path to enlightenment.
October 20, 2012
Normally I’m not one to read celebrity memoirs. Most come off as fluff pieces written by a PR person. REARVIEW MIRROR by Alana Stewart does not fall into that group.
Stewart has written a detailed look at her life without whitewashing the bad parts. And there are bad parts. While she has seemingly lived a charmed life, she’s also had her share of troubles and heartache.
The book begins with the harrowing experience that lead Stewart to leave Texas for New York where she eventually into modeling - she was raped in her own apartment by a stranger and left for dead. The authorities seemed to think she had known the person and let them in. The rapist was never caught.
Stewart talks candidly about her childhood growing up without indoor plumbing, her mother’s drug addiction and later death, and the highs and lows of modeling. She also discusses how she came to marry and divorce actor George Hamilton and rock star Rod Stewart. She and Hamilton have remained close friends, while she and Stewart have had a rockier road to friendship after their divorce.
Her three children and their struggles are a large part of the story. She shares their highs and lows and how she dealt with them mostly as a single mother (even when she was married). She also talks briefly about her friendship with actress Farrah Fawcett and how her battle with cancer (and death) has inspired her.
While she has not divulged every secret in her life or her family’s, she has been open enough that readers can feel her pain despite having seen only glitz and glamour before. Her story is inspiring and goes to show that while life may look rosy to the world, inside there are thorns.
REARVIEW MIRROR is a compelling story that pulls readers in. The story flows smoothly at a steady pace making it hard to put down once you begin. It is filled with laughter and tears, sorrow and hope, glamour and solid foundations. In addition, Stewart has included a number of photographs from her youth, modeling career, her two marriages and her life in general.
This story may tell secrets, but it’s not a Hollywood tell-all book. It’s a story of one woman’s life from a small Texas town beginning to a life among the rich and famous, her love of her children, her growth as a person, and her desire to give back to others.
Author Alana Stewart’s website is http://www.alanastewart.com/Alana/Hom...
Rearview Mirror: A Memoir by Alana Stewart, Vanguard Press, @2012, ISBN: 978-159315074, Hardcover, 288 Pages
FTC Full Disclosure - I requested this book and it was sent to me by the publisher in hopes I would review it. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review.
Stewart has written a detailed look at her life without whitewashing the bad parts. And there are bad parts. While she has seemingly lived a charmed life, she’s also had her share of troubles and heartache.
The book begins with the harrowing experience that lead Stewart to leave Texas for New York where she eventually into modeling - she was raped in her own apartment by a stranger and left for dead. The authorities seemed to think she had known the person and let them in. The rapist was never caught.
Stewart talks candidly about her childhood growing up without indoor plumbing, her mother’s drug addiction and later death, and the highs and lows of modeling. She also discusses how she came to marry and divorce actor George Hamilton and rock star Rod Stewart. She and Hamilton have remained close friends, while she and Stewart have had a rockier road to friendship after their divorce.
Her three children and their struggles are a large part of the story. She shares their highs and lows and how she dealt with them mostly as a single mother (even when she was married). She also talks briefly about her friendship with actress Farrah Fawcett and how her battle with cancer (and death) has inspired her.
While she has not divulged every secret in her life or her family’s, she has been open enough that readers can feel her pain despite having seen only glitz and glamour before. Her story is inspiring and goes to show that while life may look rosy to the world, inside there are thorns.
REARVIEW MIRROR is a compelling story that pulls readers in. The story flows smoothly at a steady pace making it hard to put down once you begin. It is filled with laughter and tears, sorrow and hope, glamour and solid foundations. In addition, Stewart has included a number of photographs from her youth, modeling career, her two marriages and her life in general.
This story may tell secrets, but it’s not a Hollywood tell-all book. It’s a story of one woman’s life from a small Texas town beginning to a life among the rich and famous, her love of her children, her growth as a person, and her desire to give back to others.
Author Alana Stewart’s website is http://www.alanastewart.com/Alana/Hom...
Rearview Mirror: A Memoir by Alana Stewart, Vanguard Press, @2012, ISBN: 978-159315074, Hardcover, 288 Pages
FTC Full Disclosure - I requested this book and it was sent to me by the publisher in hopes I would review it. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review.
February 7, 2013
Alana Stewart takes a brutally honest look at herself in this book. The road hasn't been easy but she appears to have taken all her hard knocks and emerged a beautiful person who hasn't allowed herself to play the victim.
Autobiographical lovers will love her candid approach and no holds barred account of her tumultuous early years and self resurrection as a balanced, spiritual individual who seeks to look for the positive in life. Pop culture lovers will love the stories of iconic friends and family like Rod Steward, Elton John, Farrah Fawcett, George Hamilton and more.
Autobiographical lovers will love her candid approach and no holds barred account of her tumultuous early years and self resurrection as a balanced, spiritual individual who seeks to look for the positive in life. Pop culture lovers will love the stories of iconic friends and family like Rod Steward, Elton John, Farrah Fawcett, George Hamilton and more.
October 25, 2015
Checked this out from the library after reading Rod Stewart's memoir. I had also read Brit Ekland's memoir (written in 1980) about 5 years ago - I had discovered it at a thrift store. I just love getting different perspectives of the same story. Of course, they only overlap for part of their lives.
In Rod's memoir Alana came across as a snobby star fucker who was uptight. And even though Rod comes across as a funny & fun guy in his memoir, I also got the distinct whiff of Peter Pan syndrome coming off of him. Not the sort of man a woman can depend on or trust. Rod manages to find beautiful high spirited women and turn them into weeping harpies. Rod seems fun to have an affair with, but madness to marry and procreate with. I wanted to find out what on earth these women were thinking getting so invested in a rock star.
Alana turns out to be the perfect wife to explain this phenomena. I suspect Rod's other blondes all have similar personality traits to her and would have similar motives and behavior patterns. Alana has had years and years of therapy and Al-Anon meetings (as well as all the stereotypical wacky 1970's California things like psychics & astrologers & shamans etc.) in order to help her process what the hell was going on with her life. In short, she is a co-dependent who stuffs her feelings and avoids thinking about her issues by focusing on external objects like material possessions and jobs and men. Keep moving and you won't have time to realize how miserable you are.
Alana had a lot of crappy things happen to her when young. Abandoned by a father she never met (the story of her writing a letter to him and sending her school photo so he can see what she looks like is heartbreaking. Of course she never got a response) and with a young mom addicted to prescription pills and alcohol, Alana has no parents. She has a maternal grandma who raises her when she is little but that grandma is dirt poor, uneducated, deeply religious and strict. Not that living with her mom and a succession of step fathers is much better. Throw in poverty, constant moving from house-to-house, domestic violence, mom committed multiple times to mental hospitals, bulima and a brutal rape at 18, Alana is a train wreck. A beautiful train wreck luckily.
Because of her youth & beauty she gets a job as a stewardess out of high school. That job leads to her meeting a man who suggests she moves to NYC and become a model. She does. The man conveniently has an apartment in Greenwich Village but is going to California for a month so he offers Alana his place to stay at while she settles into the city. With no hanky panky involved, according to Alana. Just out of the goodness of his heart. That, and her youth & beauty. She goes to Ford Models where Eileen Ford herself comes out of her office and berets the staff for keeping such a beautiful young girl waiting. After a youth filled with one crappy thing after another happening, Alana stumbles across one lucky break after another. Oleg Cassini randomly stops a cab and invites her to share it with him. That leads to an invitation to Acapulco which leads to meeting a wealthy Mexican playboy which leads to more jetsetting which leads to George Hamiltion which leads to Hollywood and Rod Stewart. Whew!
The first half of the book is filled with name-dropping and place-dropping and event-dropping. So much fabulousity everywhere! And I enjoyed this part of the book even though it was shallow. It was fun reading about all the exciting things happening to her. After the abject misery of her childhood, it was like reading a fairy tale - Alana was Cinderella at the ball after years of being a drudge.
Her relationship with Rod takes up a large chunk of the memoir. That makes sense since that is what she is known for. I'm sure her publisher insisted on it. Also, that relationship, along with her George Hamilton relationship, really defined Alana as a person. Oh sure, she was a model and bit actress and occasional writer. Mainly though, she has been a wife and mother. Unfortunately she didn't pick the best men to marry and father her children.
The second half of the book is more about her journey to mental health. To discovering why she acted the way she did. Why she chose the men she did. It is all too easy to poke fun at someone for writing about their therapy and mental health struggles. I think Alana is brave to write about it all. She doesn't make excuses for herself. She admits she was shallow and snobby and became clingy and desperate. In her memoir she shows her growth as a person. I appreciated her honesty. I've read hundreds of memoirs. It is frustrating to read one in which the person doesn't have self-awareness. Alana gets self-awareness in spades!
The final bit of the book about her children is sad. As a mom myself I really got it when she wrote "A mother is only as happy as her unhappiest child." She has to watch her children deal with the fallout from having absentee dads and a mom who was often absent herself when they were younger. And being raised in the Hollywood milieu couldn't have helped either. Alana is consumed with guilt over her shitty parenting choices made when her kids were young. She is paid back in spades for those decisions when both of her sons become junkies. She doesn't write as much about Kim except to say Kim had a lot of anger and partied a lot. Not as much as her brothers though.
Rod comes across terribly in this part of the book. Reading his memoir made me wonder about all his kids he abandoned when he would leave their mom. I wonder if his kids by Kelly Emberg and Rachel Hunter are as messed up as the ones he had with Alana? Only his two youngest kids appear to have a stable life. How bitter are his older kids seeing Rod be there for their half-siblings in a way Rod never was with them? I guess we'll have to wait for their memoirs. The photos of Sean Stewart in both Rod's and Alana's books show a person with sad, sad eyes. And now I see him on the covers of tabloids dating some 50 year old Real Housewife. Yikes. It doesn't seem like his life is ok yet. And I found it interesting that Kimberly Stewart has followed in her grandmother and mother's footsteps by having a child with a man who abandoned her (Benicio Del Toro). The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree. The unsettled lives of Alana and her kids makes for a weird unsettled ending to the memoir. It just sort of ends. Because the story is still going on.
In Rod's memoir Alana came across as a snobby star fucker who was uptight. And even though Rod comes across as a funny & fun guy in his memoir, I also got the distinct whiff of Peter Pan syndrome coming off of him. Not the sort of man a woman can depend on or trust. Rod manages to find beautiful high spirited women and turn them into weeping harpies. Rod seems fun to have an affair with, but madness to marry and procreate with. I wanted to find out what on earth these women were thinking getting so invested in a rock star.
Alana turns out to be the perfect wife to explain this phenomena. I suspect Rod's other blondes all have similar personality traits to her and would have similar motives and behavior patterns. Alana has had years and years of therapy and Al-Anon meetings (as well as all the stereotypical wacky 1970's California things like psychics & astrologers & shamans etc.) in order to help her process what the hell was going on with her life. In short, she is a co-dependent who stuffs her feelings and avoids thinking about her issues by focusing on external objects like material possessions and jobs and men. Keep moving and you won't have time to realize how miserable you are.
Alana had a lot of crappy things happen to her when young. Abandoned by a father she never met (the story of her writing a letter to him and sending her school photo so he can see what she looks like is heartbreaking. Of course she never got a response) and with a young mom addicted to prescription pills and alcohol, Alana has no parents. She has a maternal grandma who raises her when she is little but that grandma is dirt poor, uneducated, deeply religious and strict. Not that living with her mom and a succession of step fathers is much better. Throw in poverty, constant moving from house-to-house, domestic violence, mom committed multiple times to mental hospitals, bulima and a brutal rape at 18, Alana is a train wreck. A beautiful train wreck luckily.
Because of her youth & beauty she gets a job as a stewardess out of high school. That job leads to her meeting a man who suggests she moves to NYC and become a model. She does. The man conveniently has an apartment in Greenwich Village but is going to California for a month so he offers Alana his place to stay at while she settles into the city. With no hanky panky involved, according to Alana. Just out of the goodness of his heart. That, and her youth & beauty. She goes to Ford Models where Eileen Ford herself comes out of her office and berets the staff for keeping such a beautiful young girl waiting. After a youth filled with one crappy thing after another happening, Alana stumbles across one lucky break after another. Oleg Cassini randomly stops a cab and invites her to share it with him. That leads to an invitation to Acapulco which leads to meeting a wealthy Mexican playboy which leads to more jetsetting which leads to George Hamiltion which leads to Hollywood and Rod Stewart. Whew!
The first half of the book is filled with name-dropping and place-dropping and event-dropping. So much fabulousity everywhere! And I enjoyed this part of the book even though it was shallow. It was fun reading about all the exciting things happening to her. After the abject misery of her childhood, it was like reading a fairy tale - Alana was Cinderella at the ball after years of being a drudge.
Her relationship with Rod takes up a large chunk of the memoir. That makes sense since that is what she is known for. I'm sure her publisher insisted on it. Also, that relationship, along with her George Hamilton relationship, really defined Alana as a person. Oh sure, she was a model and bit actress and occasional writer. Mainly though, she has been a wife and mother. Unfortunately she didn't pick the best men to marry and father her children.
The second half of the book is more about her journey to mental health. To discovering why she acted the way she did. Why she chose the men she did. It is all too easy to poke fun at someone for writing about their therapy and mental health struggles. I think Alana is brave to write about it all. She doesn't make excuses for herself. She admits she was shallow and snobby and became clingy and desperate. In her memoir she shows her growth as a person. I appreciated her honesty. I've read hundreds of memoirs. It is frustrating to read one in which the person doesn't have self-awareness. Alana gets self-awareness in spades!
The final bit of the book about her children is sad. As a mom myself I really got it when she wrote "A mother is only as happy as her unhappiest child." She has to watch her children deal with the fallout from having absentee dads and a mom who was often absent herself when they were younger. And being raised in the Hollywood milieu couldn't have helped either. Alana is consumed with guilt over her shitty parenting choices made when her kids were young. She is paid back in spades for those decisions when both of her sons become junkies. She doesn't write as much about Kim except to say Kim had a lot of anger and partied a lot. Not as much as her brothers though.
Rod comes across terribly in this part of the book. Reading his memoir made me wonder about all his kids he abandoned when he would leave their mom. I wonder if his kids by Kelly Emberg and Rachel Hunter are as messed up as the ones he had with Alana? Only his two youngest kids appear to have a stable life. How bitter are his older kids seeing Rod be there for their half-siblings in a way Rod never was with them? I guess we'll have to wait for their memoirs. The photos of Sean Stewart in both Rod's and Alana's books show a person with sad, sad eyes. And now I see him on the covers of tabloids dating some 50 year old Real Housewife. Yikes. It doesn't seem like his life is ok yet. And I found it interesting that Kimberly Stewart has followed in her grandmother and mother's footsteps by having a child with a man who abandoned her (Benicio Del Toro). The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree. The unsettled lives of Alana and her kids makes for a weird unsettled ending to the memoir. It just sort of ends. Because the story is still going on.
April 2, 2021
I find Alana Stewart to be extremely likeable. I knew her as "the wife of" for many years and enjoyed the talk show she and George Hamilton had for a short time but really became familiar with who she is as a person when she authored My Journey with Farrah. While as mother I can't relate with all the jet-setting while my children are left with nannies or not being aware that my underage daughter is in nightclubs in Beverly Hills, Alana's devotion to those she loves is clear. Coming from a traumatic childhood, Alana spent years working through her issues and is a wonderful woman. My biggest criticism is that the editors did not clean up the sometimes atrocious grammar. I follow Alana on Instagram and I'm so glad I bought this book!
January 20, 2023
Alana Stewart is a rare bright soul in this complex world. I was mesmerized by her words. Raised in poverty to a drug addict mom. She rose above to create a life that only few will ever know. Married to Rod Stewart is a big part of this story but not all. A must read..
March 10, 2017
Blah, so boring. If you're going to write a memoir and you were once married to a rock star, please include some interesting and juicy stories. Good god.
November 5, 2012
I have to say I really enjoyed reading about Alana Stewart and her life. She was married to George Hamilton and Rod Stewart, and she lived a very interesting life. She grew up in an alcoholic home and carried the baggage from that with her throughout her life. It took her years to realize she was attracted to the wrong type of man, who would never be there for her, due to the type of home she grew up in and how it affected her. She did go into and out of therapy for years and did finally learn what she needed to do in order to be happy. Her children unfortunately grew up with Fathers that were absent and a Mother that was not happy, so her children had issues also.... but the stories were all told very well and I found the book interesting. I even found my husband reading parts of the book now and again when I left it laying about. It was written well. I never really knew much about her but found that it was very interesting and there was much about her life I could relate with.
September 20, 2012
Captivating! Wasn't sure I would want to finish this book but once I read the first paragraph I couldn't put the book down. Great memoir relating a troublesome home life at a young age with the determination and faith to make her life a better one to the glitz and glamour of fame to finding the strength to overcome the past. Would recommend this read to everyone--very inspirational in many ways. Won this book from Bookreporter.com Fall Preview Contest--thank you.
April 3, 2013
A very personal attempt at reflection on her life, this book suffers from the same lessons being demonstrated more than remain interesting. Lots here on her marriages to George Hamilton and Rod Stewart, and encouragingly for the codependent community, she has remained free of that encumbrance subsequently. A surprising absence is more emphasis on her movie acting career; maybe that is being saved for another book. Or maybe there isn't much to say about her early movies like Night Call Nurses.
January 4, 2016
I started reading this book thinking it would give more insight into Alana's life and struggles but I came away thinking it was more a bash Rod Stewart book. Granted he might not of been the best of husband and father but the whole book seemed directed towards that ideal. It kind of left me with a skeptical outlook on the kind of books she writes and I don't think I would run to read another one by her.
May 26, 2014
This was a very easy read and had some interesting points. It was of course intriguing to hear some of the back story but it didn't seem to really come to a conclusion making it feel, for me at least, that the book was written as a money maker. It was great to hear that she had found true peace through a relationship with God though.
December 19, 2013
I respect Alana Stewart for working so hard to overcome the emotional effects of her dysfunctional childhood. But I still think she's a flake, and Rod Stewart comes off as a real jerk. Interesting book just the same.
December 2, 2012
This memoir was just so-so for me. The jetsetting got to be too much to read about, even though I realize this is her life.
December 12, 2012
Ms. Stewart seems like someone who has searching her entire life for answers. At least at the end of this book it seems she may have found them.
March 8, 2013
3.5 out of 5
May 24, 2013
a good read
January 28, 2014
A look at how being with and marrying celebrates can be good and very bad
March 12, 2013
She gets 4 stars for her honesty.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews