People: May 13, 1985

Mommie Dearest, roll over.

As My Mother’s Keeper hit U.S. bookstores last week, Bette Davis, 77, became the latest Hollywood star to have her domestic skirts lifted by a disaffected daughter. Author B.D. (for Barbara Davis) Hyman, 38, depicts the legendary actress as an emotionally erratic, hard-drinking egomaniac who caters to her public at the expense of her family. Born to Davis during her third marriage (out of four), to Artist William Grant Sherry, Hyman reports that her mother tried in vain to see a copy of the manuscript prior to publication and fought the project furiously in phone calls and letters, saying, “How dare you do this to me? I’m a very famous woman.” The first-time author, who received a hefty $100,000 advance for the book, maintains that her motivation for publishing it was love, not money. Converted from agnosticism to Pentecostalism with her husband and two sons last year, Hyman says, “For Mother to change, she has to discover God through facing herself in this book.” To be sure, Davis may not change. As her daughter recalls, “She certainly has the capacity to be very mean when crossed.” And doubtless very cross when demeaned.