Monday 22 April 2024

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears #TheWomaninMe @britneyspears @GalleryBooks #BookReview

 


The Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.

In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice—her truth—was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey—and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history.

 Written with remarkable candour and humour, Spears’s ground-breaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love—and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last. 



The Woman in Me by Britney Spears was published in hardback by Gallery UK / Simon & Schuster on 24 October 2024. The paperback will be published in July this year. My copy was a gift at Christmas.

I doubt there's anyone on the planet who hasn't heard of Britney Spears and watched in horror as her life unravelled in full view of the world's media. I'm not a huge fan of her music, it's all a bit after my time, but I have been fascinated by the whole story. We are exposed constantly to her life, through social media, the news on TV, various documentaries and of course, her music. I was looking forward to reading her story, told in her own words, for a change. 

This book just made me feel really sad, all the way through. To be honest, it's not written that well, I'm assuming that Britney told her story to a ghost writer who then put it into words. However, it does ring true. Britney is not an academic, she's a woman who was thrust into the spotlight at a very young age, her life has been a whirlwind of singing, dancing, becoming famous and then becoming infamous. 

What really struck me about her story is the fact that she appears older than she is during her childhood years; drinking, smoking, driving a car, all supported by and at times encouraged by, her parents. As the story goes on, covering her rise to fame, her marriages and then of course, the thirteen years under her conservatorship, she seems to appear younger and younger. Her growth into adulthood was stilted by the actions of her father, her relationships and their endings were traumatic. 

It's clear that she adores her children and does appear settled at the end of the book with her new husband, but there's still an air of immaturity about her. It must be so very difficult for her to even try to lead a normal life with the eyes of the press still on her every move. 

The conservatorship, taken out by her father and his allies was cruel and I have no idea how or why any judge would have passed this. There seems to have been no external, impartial assessment of her mental health, and the words of her father were taken as truth by the courts. Having to account for every minute of your day as a grown woman is unnatural, not being allowed to eat what you want, talk to who you are fond of, and being incarcerated for very minor things is just appalling. 

I have no idea what is next for Britney. It would be perfect if she could just disappear from all types of media and try her best to live her life out of the spotlight, concentrating on her closest friends and family; those people she has chosen to spend time with and not those who just wish to control her. 

The Woman In Me is a simple, easy to read book that is just so sad, and shocking. 


Multi-platinum, Grammy Award–winning pop icon Britney Spears is one of the most
successful and celebrated entertainers in music history, with more than 100 million records sold worldwide. 

In 2021, she was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. 

Spears’s album Blackout was added to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Library & Archives in 2012. She lives in Los Angeles, California.








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