Two years after escaping her father's guardianship, Britney Spears recounts her years as a superstar who became a victim of her success in a highly anticipated memoir that is being published this week.
The publishers have kept a tight lid on most of the contents of The Woman in Me - unsurprising, since Simon & Schuster reportedly paid more than $15 million for the rights.
It was not a risky bet, however - the book is already topping the pre-sale chart at Amazon US. It is being released on Tuesday in around 20 countries and 10 languages.
"Reliving everything has been exciting, heart-wrenching, and emotional, to say the least," Spears told People magazine.
1 week until my book #TheWomanInMe hits shelves 📚 !!! Thank you all for making it #1 on Amazon already !!! #AD https://t.co/ifGb83HMHq @simonschuster @GalleryBooks pic.twitter.com/lchdmWUlit
— Britney Spears 🌹🚀 (@britneyspears) October 17, 2023
The emotional turmoil means the 41-year-old singer has only recorded a small section for the audiobook, leaving the rest to actress Michelle Williams.
"There are so many hard things to read in the news about my book," Spears wrote on her Instagram this week.
"Then I woke up this morning and said it's all relative... nothing really matters at this point."
Spears came from a very humble background and found early fame on The Mickey Mouse Club alongside other future stars Ryan Gosling and Christina Aguilera.
At 16, she became one of the most famous women on the planet with 1998's iconic ...Baby One More Time, which sold 10 million copies to become one of the biggest hits of all time.
Eight more albums followed, often selling in the millions, including Oops!...I Did it Again and In the Zone, combined with spectacular world tours.
Growing up in the media glare, relentlessly sexualised by her marketing from a young age, Spears lost her footing in 2007.
A highly public breakdown in which she shaved her head and was filmed attacking a paparazzi's car led to her father, Jamie Spears, taking legal control over her life.
Her fans organised a campaign - #FreeBritney - aided by media investigations that finally led a court to remove her father as guardian in September 2021.
Spears apparently no longer speaks to her family.
Her life has hardly been smooth sailing since then - her marriage to model Sam Asghari ended in August after just 14 months.
But Spears at least looks set to add a number-one best-selling book to her list of artistic accomplishments.
Source: AFP
