Growing Up Stewart: Martha’s Daughter Paints Scathing Picture of Childhood

  • Share
  • Read Later
Lucas Jackson / Reuters

Martha Stewart’s carefully constructed domestic empire has a few cracks in it–not that that bothers her much, anyway.

Stewart’s daughter, Alexis, has a tell-all book set to hit shelves Oct. 18 that will surely challenge Martha’s domestic diva title.

The book, titled Whateverland: Learning to Live Here, provides a firsthand account of Alexis’ Mommie Dearest-like childhood.

(LIST: 25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century)

Some confessions, such as the elder Stewart’s expectation of perfection, are unsurprising. “If I didn’t do something perfectly, I had to do it again,” writes the now 46-year-old mother. “I grew up with a glue gun pointed at my head.”

Others are simply bizarre. “She used to make me wrap my own presents,” reveals Alexis. “She would hand me things right before Christmas and say, ‘Now wrap these but don’t look inside.’”

Still others downright shocking, even bordering on disturbing. For instance, Martha would never close the door when using the restroom.

“I remember saying, ‘You know, now I have friends over! You can’t do that anymore!’” writes Alexis, who also dedicated the book to her mother. “‘It’s gotta stop! My friends’ parents don’t do it! Give me a break here! I don’t feel like being embarrassed! It’s exhausting! I’m a kid! Stop!’”

Martha’s pets had similar bathroom behavior, reveals Alexis. Although she required all guests in her home to remove their shoes before entering, “My mother’s dogs p–s and s–t on her rugs.”

Despite the less-than-flattering portrayal by her daughter, Martha holds no hard feelings. “She’s her own person,” she says of Alexis, her only child. “She makes up her own mind.”

(SEE: The 2010 TIME 100)