Christina also wrote that Joan strapped Christina's younger adopted brother, Christopher, to his bed each night until he was 12, ostensibly to control his sleepwalking.Ĭhristina reported that Joan's controlling and erratic behavior continued throughout Christina's adulthood. Joan allegedly disposed of her children's possessions to punish them for minor transgressions. In an incident in which Christina refused to eat very rare beef, Joan ordered the meat returned to the refrigerator and refused to allow Christina any other food for several days until she finished the meal Christina managed to hold out until her mother gave up and allowed her regular meals again. In another encounter, Joan reportedly discovered Christina's clothes hanging in a closet on wire hangers, which Joan detested, instead of crochet hangers, and reprimanded her harshly.

Often, the threat of boarding school or the actual sending of Christina to these schools was used to punish Christina for defying her mother or fighting back against her abusive behavior.Ĭhristina recounts several events in which Joan's behavior was unbalanced, and at least one encounter with her mother where Joan attempted to strangle her. Christina writes that as she grew older and more difficult to control, Joan found excuses to remove Christina from the home by sending her to various boarding schools and strict religious academies, often specifying in her instructions that Christina must be allowed no contact with the outside world. She implies Joan had a long list of affairs with men, whom Christina was required to call 'Uncle' and on some occasions 'Gremlin', and that Joan also had many affairs with women. In the book, Christina contends that Joan, whom she describes as not wishing to be involved in parenting her, was an alcoholic who hit her regularly and placed more importance on her career than her family life.Ĭhristina suggests that Joan may have adopted children as a publicity stunt to sustain her career.

Mommy dearest 1981 the movie