Bernadett Mills

EVERY WOMAN CAN FEEL LIKE A QUEEN, AS LONG AS SHE BELIEVES SHE IS ONE.
“What a fantastic read. This is a book that all teenage girls need to read. Reality is not always what it seems and girls growing up should be made aware of that.” Jayne Ann Sim
“An incredibly honest memoir of dreams, pain, heartbreak, hope and love, as Bernadett embarks on her personal journey of self discovery.” Gavin Mills
“I am writing these words simply to tell my story. A story that may, or may not be what you expect to hear, but perhaps it gives some food for thought for all the young ladies that are contemplating entering the beauty world. It is only a story. Use it, don’t use it ...it’s up to you. I feel good just by writing it, for me, for you.” Bernadett Mills
When she decided to enter the Miss Hungary pageant in the spring of 1992, Bernadett had no inkling of the incredible journey she would be embarking on. She had no idea of the blessings and in some ways, curses that she would encounter along the way. How could she? How could any young girl of 18 years of age, still in school know anything about the business of beauty?
Queen of Secrets tells Bernadett’s story. A story of a young girl who starts out in a small village on the beautiful shores of Lake Balaton in communist Hungary.
A story about the unconditional love of her mother who believed in her daughter no matter what; who was always there with support and love, through times both good and bad. A story of a beautiful girl growing up in a world where beauty can often be more of a curse than a blessing.
It tells of her discovering young love and experiencing heartbreak, her trials and tribulations, challenges encountered and hurdles overcome as she sets out to become a woman, and to live up to the responsibilities of being crowned the most beautiful girl in her land.
The crown and title were dreamlike rewards without doubt, but what no one ever told her, they would come at a price. A price that she would reconsider many times along her journey, whether she would be prepared to pay. The world of beauty is big business - something she suspected. All she wanted to know was: Why is it in the glorious world of fame and fortune, that some girls fall off the tracks? Are there secrets that nobody knows which happen behind the curtains?
The book provides a glimpse into the reality of the cut-throat world of beauty pageants, where hopeful young girls infatuated by the fairy tale, and hoping to kick-start dreams and careers, are pressurised by prestige and big money to sometimes sacrifice identity and become icons of a very lucrative beauty industry. There is pressure to trade values in exchange for titles - and this is what this book is about and why it's worth a read.