Hollywood actress Rose McGowan’s memoir, Brave, is scheduled to be published by HarperCollins in January 2018.

The memoir traces McGowan’s early childhood spent in the religious cult Children of God (now known as The Family International) and how she moved to the hub of American filmmaking in Hollywood, where she landed roles in films such as Jawbreaker, the television series Charmed, and came to mass recognition in the Grindhouse films Death Proof and Planet Terror.

The book will also attempt to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding the exploitative practices prevalent in the film industry. McGowan, who has been in news headlines in recent times for accusing film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, says, “My life, as you will read, has taken me from one cult to another. Brave is the story of how I fought my way out of these cults and reclaimed my life. I want to help you do the same.”

Development of the book has suffered its fair share of tribulations. According to an article in the New Yorker written by Ronan Farrow, son of actress Mia Farrow and filmmaker Woody Allen, the book was allegedly investigated by “an enterprise run largely by former officers of Mossad and other Israeli intelligence agencies.” This agency, Black Cube, was among several organisations allegedly hired by Weinstein to extract and suppress information about the accusations levelled against him.

The contractual agreement was for Black Cube to provide intelligence that would help “completely stop the publication of a new negative article in a leading NY newspaper” and “obtain additional content of a book which is currently being written and includes harmful negative information on and about the Client,” who is identified as Weinstein in multiple documents.

According to Farrow, agents of these organisations met McGowan under the guise of being women’s rights advocates and journalists.

HarperCollins called the book “a pull-no-punches account of the rise of a star, fearless activist, and unstoppable force for change who is determined to expose the truth about the entertainment industry, dismantle the concept of fame, shine a light on a multibillion-dollar business built on systemic misogyny and empower people everywhere to wake up and be BRAVE”.

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, November 12th, 2017