Sharon Stone Says She and Her Sister Decided 'Together' to Reveal They Were Sexually Abused in New Memoir
Rodin Eckenroth / WireImage Sharon and Kelly Stone
Sharon Stone is speaking candidly about her decision to come forward with details about her sexual abuse.
While chatting with The New York Times for a recent interview, the 63-year-old actress discussed her forthcoming memoir — The Beauty of Living Twice — and how she recalled horrible memories from her past for the book, including a time when she and her sister, Kelly, were sexually abused by a grandfather when they were younger.
Detailing that she and her sibling "made this decision together" to reveal the abuse in her memoir, Stone told the outlet, "We spoke to my mother and at first she was very stoic and wrote me a letter about how disconcerting all this information was. The whole pious, horrified, I-don't-really-want-to-talk-about-it-directly kind of thing."
"Then my sister got loaded when my mom was staying with her and really went for it with my mom," Stone continued. "And my mom had a major breakthrough."
"When I finished the book, I read it to my mother over a three-day period. And I had the flu at the time. I was in bed and she got in bed with me as I finished the book, and then I recorded an hour and a half of her talking," she added. "And then I rewrote a lot of the book. That's when I dedicated the book to her."
On Saturday, Stone is set to appear in a taped interview for Oprah Winfrey's Super Soul talk show, where she will speak more in-depth about her memoir.
In a PEOPLE exclusive look at the upcoming episode, the Basic Instinct star says her memoir is coming after decades of reflection and coming to believe that as women reach the age of 40 "white male society starts to tell women you don't have worth."
"I think that as we grow older, we have this societal pressure where people start to try to tell us that our worth is diminished," Stone says in the clip.
Also in the interview, the actress will speak to Winfrey, 67, about a near-death experience and her recovery after having a near-fatal stroke, alongside the trauma and abuse she experienced as a child.
RELATED VIDEO: Sharon Stone Reveals to Oprah Winfrey Why She's Releasing Her Memoir Now
While speaking with the Times, Stone was also asked about her take on what people will think of her when they learn these new aspects about her life.
In response, the actress said that "people will make it all up for you" if she didn't share these details herself.
"There's been pretty much an adult lifetime of people making up my life for me," she noted. "I've had quite a bit of tummy trouble waiting for this book to come."
"Now I'm going to go out in the most menacing, disruptive, psychologically aggressive period that our world has been in since the '60s and be vulnerable and open," Stone continued. "I understand that I'll be met with a certain amount of that. But I don't want to gird my loins. I don't want to be defensive. I want to prepare to be open and present. Because that's the purpose of my journey."
The Beauty of Living Twice is available everywhere on March 30.
