Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Good Girls Don't
    Good Girls Don't
    Good Girls Don't

    UNLIMITED

    Audiobook2 hours

    Good Girls Don't

    Written by Mara Wilson

    Narrated by Mara Wilson

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    In this candid and illuminating Everand Original, writer-actor Mara Wilson navigates the good-girl-versus- bad-girl tropes from early childhood through adolescence and teen life. Good Girls Don’t is a coming-of- age memoir that bravely examines both the friendships Wilson formed as a child actor in Hollywood and the complex family relationships that shaped her.

    Looking back on her experiences on and off the set of notable family-friendly films including Matilda, Mrs. Doubtfire, Miracle on 34th Street, and A Simple Wish, Wilson shares the challenges and joys of growing up in the public eye while enduring the very personal grief of losing her mother to cancer when she was just eight. She describes periods of acting out to assuage her own sadness, as her contentious grandmother stepped in and her hardworking, grief-stricken father grappled with raising a young daughter and her four siblings.

    Wilson also shares intimate thoughts about religion and her struggle to adhere to the learned family values of her “Conservadox” upbringing while exploring clandestine friendships, such as with “bad girl” classmate Skye, that went against the “good” behavior her parents tried to instill in her. We discover the TV shows, films, and risqué pop and rock music that influenced her and hear fascinating, hilarious details of life on movie sets as seen from the perspective of a highly intelligent and emotionally vulnerable child.

    And, as Wilson seeks to discard a people-pleasing mentality, she digs into past experiences with fans. We learn about the challenges of maintaining a significant fan base — including her complicated relationship with Edward, the college-age young man who administered a website to engage them — in addition to the ongoing anxiety over others’ opinions of how any move she made would be perceived.

    With the transition to adulthood, Wilson reflects on the moments that led up to this next phase of her life. Forging solid friendships as a theater student at New York University, she begins to accept her extraordinary past while finally realizing what being “good” means to her.

    Editor's Note

    Painfully relatable…

    Good girls don’t talk back. Good girls don’t disobey their parents. Good girls don’t disappoint their fans. Writer and former child actor Wilson (“Matilda,” “Mrs. Doubtfire”) opens up about her struggle with the pressure to please other people while growing up in the spotlight on set and dealing with the turmoil of her mother’s death. This memoir is candid, humble, and above all, painfully relatable.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEverand Originals
    Release dateApr 18, 2023
    ISBN9781094460055
    Author

    Mara Wilson

    Mara Wilson, known for her childhood roles in Mrs. Doubtfire and Matilda, is a writer and actor living in Los Angeles. Recently, she has appeared on Welcome to Night Vale, Broad City, and BoJack Horseman. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Elle, McSweeney’s, Reductress, People, and many other outlets. She also publishes a newsletter of her writing on Substack, “Shan’t We Tell the Vicar?” Wilson’s first book, Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame is available from Penguin Random House. Recently, Wilson voiced Tania de Batz in the audiobook One for All, a gender-swapped version of The Three Musketeers by Lillie Lainoff.

    More audiobooks from Mara Wilson

    Related to Good Girls Don't

    Related audiobooks

    Personal Memoirs For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      Top 10 Books

      Aug 19, 2022

      Top 10 Books
      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      I Wish My Mum Was Dead

      Feb 7, 2023

      I Wish My Mum Was Dead
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      EMMA & ELLIOT: IT’S OVER

      Feb 12, 2021

      EMMA & ELLIOT: IT’S OVER
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Family Sharing

      Mar 29, 2022

      Family Sharing
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Joe Wicks

      May 23, 2022

      Joe Wicks
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Michael Buble

      Apr 3, 2023

      Michael Buble
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      What I’ve Learned

      Oct 1, 2021

      What I’ve Learned
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Being Elliot Page

      Jun 2, 2022

      Being Elliot Page
      16 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Joanna Scanlan

      May 24, 2021

      A At 16 I was at a very pleasant girls’ boarding school in North Wales. I enjoyed that life, I had bags of fabulous friends – I’ve enjoyed friendship all through my life. Until I was 16 I always took it upon myself to stand up for what I saw as injus

      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      James O’Brien

      May 10, 2021

      James O’Brien
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      60 Seconds That Changed My Life

      Feb 5, 2023

      DATE: December 2D, 1999, 8:15pm EVENT: Writer and broadcaster BENJAMIN LAW comes out to his mum about his sexuality. I GREW UP on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, the last mainland state in Australia to decriminalise homosexuality. That meant for a

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      60 Seconds That Changed My Life

      Feb 5, 2023

      DATE: December 2D, 1999, 8:15pm EVENT: Writer and broadcaster BENJAMIN LAW comes out to his mum about his sexuality. I GREW UP on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, the last mainland state in Australia to decriminalise homosexuality. That meant for a

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Troy Deeney

      Aug 12, 2024

      Troy Deeney
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Alan Cumming

      Nov 1, 2021

      Alan Cumming
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Strength Training

      Mar 25, 2023

      Strength Training
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Kathleen Hanna

      May 20, 2024

      Kathleen Hanna
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Q&A Percy Daggs III

      Mar 26, 2022

      Q&A Percy Daggs III
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Mermaids And Me.

      Sep 27, 2019

      Mermaids And Me.
      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Sophie L Morgan

      Feb 6, 2023

      Sophie L Morgan
      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      It S Now Or Never

      Feb 25, 2020

      It S Now Or Never
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Edith Bowman

      Mar 13, 2023

      Edith Bowman
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Good Girls Don't

    4/5

    532 ratings17 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a candid and frank look into the personal difficulties and social pressures Mara Wilson faced during her formative years. The writing style is appreciated, although some readers felt it lacked depth. The book provides an insightful and sincere perspective on the traumatic childhood of a child actor. Many readers found it relatable and enjoyed the easy-to-follow narrative. Overall, readers recommend this book for its wit, perceptive insights, and relatability.

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Mara’s work is incredibly relatable, moving, and enjoyable, as always!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      short but we'll written. I enjoyed it and would listen again.
    • 4/5
      I found this to be oddly relatable, it gives you a lot of insight as to what it’s like to grow up in the spotlight at such a young age…
    • 5/5
      Mara shows more perspective in this book. Comes off genuine and overall well stated.
    • 5/5
      Loved the book, as short as it was. I felt all the points Mara wanted to tell us about and I loved her narration, one of the best voices out there!
    • 5/5
      LOVED her growing up and now love who she has become. We have had very similar upbringings with our parents.
    • 2/5
      It lacked any depth. If your looking for a quick read without much thought it’s great
    • 5/5
      Very personally read by the author and nicely written about her as well as honest
    • 3/5
      "I'm very disappointed in you" felt so relatable ! ?
    • 3/5
      Too short, I would like to hear more of her story. I may check out her book she wrote before this one. I never realized she lost her mother when she was filming Matilda.
    • 5/5
      Sincere and interesting. Loved it. Easy to follow as well.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I enjoyed Where Am I Now and this was a good follow up. Mara and other former child stars that are speaking up about their experiences have put a lot into perspective for those of us who grew up watching them.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      No one knows what pain can lie behind the smiles or the nasty. You put it very well.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      A very candid and frank look into the personal difficulties and social pressures Mara Wilson struggled with during her formative years.

      My only complaint is that it was quite short as I very much appreciated the writing style and honest breakdown of that time in her life.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Very good! Witty and perceptive.
      An insightful look at the traumatic childhood, of a child actor.
      Who wouldn't be a brat if we had to deal with the death of a parent, School and Hollywood?
      Happy she's in a better place, now.
      This is a book I recommend!

      2 people found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Very sad that Mara’s Mother died when she was so young -She gave such a wonderful performance in Matilda- the writing was great- I didn’t enjoy a Simple wish so much -but that was due to the plot-not the actors. Mara has grown up pretty well considering some go off the rails losing a parent at a young age. And yes….she was a “good girl”.
    • 1/5
      very boring and a waste of time, nothing too related to the name. Don't recommed