An Unexpected Memoir

I will just say it; Sunshine Girl is the best memoir I have read. And I have been reading and reviewing for decades.

It is the best because the actual writing, composition and organization reflects her tireless goal to become more accomplished, to be the best. Whether it was waitressing, education, interacting with friends or her sisters, she needed to go the extra mile to make something work.

Her background is not of the typical Jewish girl, but then I’m not sure what that is, except for the utmost importance of family. She is bright, sometimes brilliant in her philosophy, and strives to excel as a student, friend or actor. Ms. Margulies did not have an easy childhood. She is the youngest of three girls, her parents were divorced very early in her life and she was shuttled from continent to continent at the whims of her outlandish mother. Her mother did not resemble a Jewish mother; in fact, she converted to Christianity. She was always looking to find herself, often at the expense of her daughters.

Julianna had to adjust to different schools, make new friends and often live in below standard housing. Her sweet father did what he could, but he should have done more, but that’s another whole book. He was a gem, however. There are few tranquil moments in this autobiography. The momentum of her writing is a depiction of her hustle.

In her quest to attain her goals, she had to adjust to places, schools, and friends but there was always her self-serving mother. She was often very late, unprepared and had a stream of young men/lovers living at their home. She was a bright but quirky woman who fulfilled her needs despite the realities that her daughters could not abide. While Julianna second-guessed herself, her mother never did, no matter the situation.

When Julianna discovered that acting could be a fit for her, she worked very hard to earn her own money (she always worked) and never faltered in preparation for an audition or a role. Winning the role on the TV show ER propelled her career and she often made singular decisions that were controversial..

She worked to be the best for herself, and then worked harder. I cannot imagine how she could remember the intricacies of her childhood. Her confidence as a mother, wife, student and actor is well-deserved. Highly recommended.

(Missing from this digital book are photographs which would have enhanced this memoir).


My gratitude to NetGalley and Ballantine Books and Random House for this pre-published advanced copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

First off thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I found the book to be a quick read but always interesting; the memoir starts off with the preface dropping smack dab in the first episode of The Good Wife she had me), starting with the first chapter she details the history of her parents and grandparents, there are portions of the book that are printed stories that she loves, then there is a chapter devoted to female lawyers (most notably her grandmother). When she gets going into her life with her personal exits good, not great it sometimes feels like she’s holding back. When discussing ER and The Good Wife which took up 15 years of her life it feels more like Cliffs Notes. She’s had a long career and she has to have some stories, I don’t mean dirt or gossip, there were glimpses with her relationship with Tom Fontana and the wonderful kind dentist who became a friend and confidante, more of that would have made the book more interesting, in my opinion.

I religiously watched ER from beginning to end and watched the first few years of The Good Wife, so when I saw Julianna Margulies had written a memoir—and it was garnering glowing early reviews—I requested it from Netgalley. I like a good memoir that gives the reader a glimpse into someone’s thoughts or one that turns introspective, and Margulies has achieved that in Sunshine Girl.

But while I enjoyed the first half of this book that’s more coming-of-age and about being shuffled from country to country between her divorced parents, the second half of the book that focuses more on her journey into acting was not as strong. She only briefly mentions her roles, not really discussing any behind the scenes experiences. And I wasn’t necessarily expecting any gossip about co-stars, but I would have liked more just about the process of making a hit television series. She did speak at length about how exhausting and challenging the unrelenting schedule can be, but it’s hard to muster much sympathy when an actor’s life is so far removed from most people’s day to day lives. Although, I did appreciate—and agree with—her discussion of how the media focuses on the struggle female actors have with working and motherhood, but never presents the same questions to male actors about fatherhood.

If you have always wondered why she turned down a very lucrative offer to remain with ER for another two years, she does (somewhat reluctantly) provide a satisfying explanation.

What Margulies does well is discuss her personal relationships. She’s honest and forthcoming about her struggles with her parents, her close relationship with her sisters, her friendships, and even a toxic decade-long relationship with a fellow actor. She doesn’t include their name, but it’s not hard to figure out who it is. She allows the reader to explore how the challenges in her life shaped who she became, and there’s plenty for readers to be inspired by.

I believe the final version will include photos from throughout her life, but I was disappointed to discover they weren’t included in the advanced copy. I was able to satisfy my curiosity by perusing her Instagram and IMDB page, though. Photos always make a good memoir even better.

If you’re a reader who enjoys interesting factoids about celebrities (her father wrote the jingle “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is”) or a person’s struggle to define themselves after a challenging childhood, you’ll probably enjoy this well-written memoir.

I loved Julianna Margulies in The Good Wife so I was intrigued to learn more about her life. I found this to be such a fascinating and insightful read. Julianna had an unusual and emotional childhood and I found it so inspiring how she persevered and went on to have a successful career and marriage. This book is more about her upbringing and personal life so if you are expecting a lot of behind the scenes of her TV shows you may be disappointed (there are a few anecdotes about George Clooney, but it's a pretty minor part of the book) but I wasn't because I felt like I learned so much not about just Julianna, but also insights to live my own life. Would definitely recommend!

Give me an interesting memoir and I’m in my happy place. I love reading about other people’s lives. I knew very little about Julianna Marguiles’ life before reading this book. I had seen her on a rare occasion on the TV show ER several decades ago, but I don’t watch much television and don’t closely follow the lives of actors and actresses.

Julianna lived a somewhat tumultuous upbringing with the divorce of her parents and many moves back and forth between Europe and the United States. Growing up, Julianna felt a responsibility to make everyone happy. Her mom called her “Sunshine Girl”. She didn’t want to cause any drama and she didn’t want to make her dad unhappy when she had so little time with him. She is not the typical last born child, laid back and somewhat spoiled. Rather, she became a highly responsible, orderly, type A person. She was a loyal friend who put others before herself, intentionally embodying the opposite of some of her mother‘s qualities (flighty, noncommittal, and disorderly). Both of her parents were intelligent and intellectual creatives. Julianna was like them in that regard.

I loved reading that she chose to follow her dreams and what brought her joy rather than follow money. She had a particularly poignant conversation with her father when she was offered a huge sum of money to renew her contract with ER. She felt her heart pulling her in another direction. After she decided to leave ER, one day she saw the ladies from The View TV show criticizing her decision on air. She was upset by this, but her wise father set her at ease, “Well, honey, you turned down the American dream. What upsets them is that you made a decision they would never have made and that makes people angry; it throws your choice back on them. How dare you not think that money is all that matters, how dare you choose differently? This is just their own baggage, it actually has nothing to do with you.” Man ain’t that the obvious truth. It isn’t fun to be criticized, but looking at the source from which the criticism comes makes all the difference in the world.

I felt sorrow on Julianna’s behalf seeing how she felt she wasn’t good enough. I’m sure much of that stemmed from her tumultuous upbringing and a long, unhealthy and damaging relationship she was in. Eventually, through the love of her friends and family and later her husband, she recovered her value and dignity..

Julianna shares that as an adult she has had some touching confrontations and resolutions with her parents. I’m glad that she found resolution with them. I found myself rooting for happiness and good things in her life. Good things came. The gratitude she has for life and the good that has come have certainly kept her grounded in the midst of her fame. I really enjoyed reading Sunshine Girl.

I received an arc copy from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.

Sunshine Girl by Julianna Margulies was just a delight of a memoir. What I liked above all else was that this was really more focused on her as a person versus her as a celebrity. It wasn't the hot gossip from ER and/or The Good Wife, rather it was about reflecting on her childhood, young adulthood, and also how she found her way to each of these shows. I felt like I got to know who she was as a human navigating the world versus just the actress sliver of her life. It was also really interesting to see how she reflected on the challenges she'd navigated along the way, and she did this in a very honest, authentic way. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this May 2021 release

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy. I’ve always liked Julianna from ER and The Good Wife. It was interesting to read about her travels and her upbringing abroad. I would have loved more memories and insight about her tv shows, as that is what most people know her from; but all in all, it was a good read.

Sunshine Girl was an interesting look at Margulies's unconventional childhood, family dynamics, and internal world during her career development. As the story of her young life unfolds on the pages, she processes the events in real time--allowing the reader the opportunity to develop a connection with her. While some celebrity memoires combine personal stories with ample behind-the-curtain peeks at Hollywood, Margulies doesn't do that. I would have loved more anecdotes about her life on the ER and The Good Wife sets, and to be brought into her relationships with castmates a bit more. Overall, the writing was easy to navigate and kept my attention, though didn't blow me away. Thank you for the ARC, NetGalley!

First of all, this cover is stunning and I think that alone will draw people in. Second of all, wow. I flew through this book. Extremely well written and written in such a way that you didn’t have to bend over backwards or constantly re-read things to understand.

What a pleasure to read! I already enjoyed Julianna Margulies' work, but reading her book 'Sunshine Girl' is like sitting down with a friend over coffee and catching up. While some celebrity bios are "tell-all" things with sensational bits that make up for lack of really getting to know the author, this one is the opposite. Margulies talks about her relationship with her parents in a bare, unflinching way that a lot of us can relate to. She doesn't sugar coat how her parents' divorce affected her, and the way she handled relationships later in life as a result. But the book is not a downer - I loved reading about her path as an actor, and details of the shows we've come to know her from. I highly recommend this book!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Sunshine Girl.

ER was one of my favorite shows of the late 90s and Julianna Margulies' Carol Hathaway was my favorite character, besides George Clooney's Doug Ross.

When Doug Ross was written off, I continued to watch just for Julianna Margulies until her character arc was completed.

Sunshine Girl was an easy to read memoir with insight into the experiences that shaped her as a daughter, sister, friend, actress, mother, and wife.

I was fascinated by her travels, the people she met who would eventually become lifelong friends and the moment she realized she wanted to be an actress was a fascinating turning point to read about.

She also discusses her parents' unconventional parenting, how her mother's behavior influenced her own Type A personality and how she dealt with her father's hands-off approach when she needed his support growing up.

Ms. Margulies is incredibly blessed and lucky to have the family she does, her parents and sisters are incredibly loving and supportive.

She acknowledges that some of her darkest experiences, including a long term relationship with a manipulative man, stemmed from her own lack of self esteem and the resentment she harbored from childhood.

She eventually had to learn to let her past go, her anger and resentment, and not let it lead her life.

I really related to this part of her story and I loved the Buddhist tale she recounts as the moment she knew she had to heal herself from the inside out.

I think any fan of Ms. Margulies would enjoy Sunshine Girl. I did!

I received a free copy of this book from Random House via Netgalley in exchange for an honest, voluntary review. My opinions are my own.

Sunshine Girl by Julianna Margulies is her memoir about being a child of divorce, living different lifestyles with her mother and father, and navigating difficult adult relationships. She is candid about her childhood and her adult relationships. This takes up a majority of the book. She spends very little time on her two major roles, Carol Hathaway on ER and Alicia Florrick on The Good Wife.

Fans who are expecting a lot of interesting stories about these shows and her fellow actors will be disappointed. Fans of ER and The Good Wife might want to look at the table of contents before spending $14.99 on the Kindle version. Chapter 12 is about getting the part on ER, and most of Chapter 13 is about leaving ER 6 years later. George Clooney's name is mentioned 9 times, but 7 of those times are in the story about getting the part in ER, and two mentions are while she's complaining about fans, which I will go further into below. I could not find any mentions of Anthony Edwards, Sherry Stringfield, or Noah Wyle. As for The Good Wife, the amazing Christine Baranski is mentioned in one anecdote about a medical problem Margulies was having, but fans of Matt Czuchry and Josh Charles will be disappointed. I could not find them in the book.

There was one story that completely bugged me because she complains about how embarrassed she was when a group of fans stopped her to talk about her two famous roles. People watched these shows for years, and are still watching them. She continues to benefit from these shows. At least she could treat her fans with respect instead of slamming them in a memoir.

Of course it is her prerogative to write about anything she wants, but fans of ER and The Good Wife might want to decide if it's worth the money, depending on what they hope to get out of the book.

As someone who has enjoyed ER and The Good Wife, this fell flat for me. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in learning about Julianna Margulies' childhood and relationships, and very little about her two hit shows. The title is also deceiving. There is no sunshine in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for my electronic ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published May 4, 2021.

I like Julianna Marguiles, having watched all episodes of ER and The Good Wife. This book was interesting and honest. It starts with her very international upbringing, constantly moving from Europe to the US, and bouncing between her divorced parents.

This actress made it big, but not without struggles and dedication to her craft. I admire her decision to walk away from a $27 million dollar contract extension on ER to pursue a live theater role.

And in the good karma category, her kindness to a rejected agent ultimately led to her meeting her husband.

An enjoyable read.

Original review posted on GoodReads.

The moving tale of how a young girl, with split up parents, criss-crossing around the globe, “made it”. She rose from the uncertainty of why her father “didn’t want her” to being wanted by her fans, husband and child. Difficult relationships from birth have shaped her into the loveable woman and actress she is today. #SunshineGirl by #JuliannaMargulies #3422 #101of250 #25for24 #18chapters #368pages #March2021 #COVIDreading #Kindle #NetGalleyARC #ARC #Biography #ClearingOffReadingShelves #WhatsNext #ReadItQuick #Actress #ER #TheGoodWife

I absolutely adore Julianna Margulies. I expected to be enthralled with her story. That didn't happen. It appeared very flat even when it should have been grabbing the reader. I woudl have liked to have seen more vitality and energy in its pages.

Thank you NetGalley, Julianna Margulies and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for the ARC of Sunshine Girl. This is my personal review.
I absolutely loved this book. It was a wonderful look into the woman I have admired as an actress for many years.
It was fascinated to read the life she led and her growing up years. She was honesty was refreshing and not just about her career. Reading about her life as an expat was remarkably interesting to me.
The title of the book Sunshine Girl - An Unexpected Life is perfect for her autobiography. I thought I knew her but what I knew was just surface knowledge of her acting career. I want to thank Julianna Margulies for letting us into her life and sharing it with me.

I've always liked watching Marguiles on ER and the Goodwife so was extremely disappointed that she glossed over this part of her life. Particularly, since that's how people know her. That said, it's an enjoyable read. Just felt a lot was left out.

Prior to reading her memoir, I had never heard of the Margulies and have never seen her in any show or movie. I found her memoir refreshing, down to earth and without artifice. She doesn’t cast aspersions like some celebrities. I loved reading about her sniffling childhood across,the pond and back again, her issues with her roses take, and snickered in several spots. Although other riders will probably interpret the scene a little differently, I thought her interaction with Stephen Seagall with Mayo in her hair quite amusing. I could relate to many things she spoke: self image, personal relationships. I enjoyed her book.

I've always had a bit of a crush on Julianna Margulies. First - she got to kiss George Clooney. Then - she got to be a BOSS in The Good Wife. I've always wondered about the woman behind the characters.

I'm sure that actors always struggle to write memoirs - wondering how much detail to include, what stories to tell. I thought Margulies did a superb job of letting us see her personal life without giving away too many personal memories or boring us to death. While on one hand, it seemed to be a life of privilege, on the other hand, it seemed chaotic and unstable. For me, it was an interesting read.

This a peppy yet honest memoir. You never know what you are going to get when it's a celebrity (even low key one like Margulies) but this one hit a lot of good notes for me. Good recap of her childhood, a peek at the life of being on two hit shows and it was "Hollywood"-y without being dramatic or tawdry.