Love Me as I Am

Beauvais, the first Black woman to be featured on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, wants readers to know that she is more than just a Real Housewife—she’s a former model and is currently an actress, host of the talk show The Real, a producer, and an author (I Am Mixed; I Am Living in 2 Homes). Cowritten by Smith, this poignant, candid memoir begins by describing Beauvais’s childhood in Haiti. Growing up with an absent father who returned only to rule the home with an iron fist, she came to the United States at age seven with her mother and siblings, was discovered by modeling agent Eileen Ford, and found herself making her way in New York at 17 in the early 1980s, a time when Black models were a rarity. In addition to detailing her road to success, Beauvais discusses her marriage and infertility issues, the challenges she faced raising her oldest son, and how she found her voice. She also opines on fashion, her faith, friendship, race, and “keeping it real,” and ends with “Garcelle’s Gems,” sayings she lives by such as “Mind your business, Garcelle. Mind your business.” And yes: she dishes about the other housewives and the celebrities she met on her road to success.