Jennette McCurdy’s Memoir, “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” Shares a Troubled Relationship With Her Mother

“My whole childhood and adolescence were very exploited,” McCurdy said. When she was 16, she was in her third year on “iCarly.” She found that revisiting the era of her child stardom in the book resurfaced raw feelings about her mother and an industry that had failed to protect her.

McCurdy was living under the stringent control of her mother, Debra, who oversaw her career, determined her meals and even administered her showers. She also gave her breast and vaginal exams, which she said were inspections for cancer.

Debra McCurdy had recovered from breast cancer when Jennette was very young. The cancer returned in 2010, at the height of her daughter’s fame, and she died in 2013. Jennette, then 21, was liberated — and left to navigate a complex world without her guidance, contending with destructive romantic relationships, bulimia, anorexia and alcohol abuse.

Jennette, now 30, is still reckoning with the gravitational pull exerted by her mother. It was clear to McCurdy that this relationship would provide the book’s narrative force. “It’s the heartbeat of my life,” she said recently.