My Life to Live: How I Became the Queen of Soaps When Men Ruled the Airwaves by Agnes Nixon

  My Life to Live: How I Became the Queen of Soaps When Men Ruled the Airwaves by Agnes Nixon. Crown Archetype (Penguin Random House), 2017. Memoir.




Agnes Nixon, an only child, made up stories about her paper dolls. She wrote her own stories as a young child and dreamed of being a writer. She ultimately became the creator and head writer of the successful daily "soap opera" All My Children and head writer for One Life to Live, another daytime drama. While both shows were cancelled by ABC in 2011, many fans remember the shows and will enjoy the tidbits shared in this book. The foreword is written by Carol Burnett, a fan who also played a role.




In this memoir, Agnes tells of her parents' divorce and her father's dominating influence on her life. He constantly told Agnes that she could not write and wanted her to go into his own burial garment business. She lost an early love who went to fight in WWII. She faced countless situations where she was the first woman to succeed. Agnes and her husband, Bob, later shared responsibilities for their network successes and four children. Told with candor and humor, the story of Agnes' life is itself worthy of a soap opera!


I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.