Nearly two years after Britney Spears was released from her court-ordered 13-year conservatorship, the “…Baby One More Time” singer is telling her story in her forthcoming memoir, The Woman in Me, which is the result of a reported $15m (£12.3m) book deal.
The Woman in Me is said to be a moving account of fame, autonomy, motherhood and hope. “It is finally time for me to raise my voice and speak out, and my fans deserve to hear it directly from me,” the singer told People magazine. “No more conspiracy, no more lies – just me owning my past, present, and future.”
The #FreeBritney movement gained support with in-person protests as well as online campaigning, and, in September 2021, the pop star’s father, Jamie Spears, was suspended as her conservator, ending years of alleged “abuse” that left her “traumatised”.
From her abortion while dating Justin Timberlake to fighting to end her conservatorship, the tell-all memoir is likely to reveal the incredible journey of one of pop music’s biggest stars, but she has admitted some parts are too painful to retell. Award-winning actress Michelle Williams will narrate the audio version of the singer’s memoir.
Multiple publishing houses placed bids for the highly anticipated memoir but it was ultimately acquired by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. The print version as well as the audiobook will be released on 24 October.
‘The Woman in Me’ by Britney Spears, published by Gallery Books: £12.50, Amazon.co.uk
When will the memoir be released?
The hardcover edition of The Woman in Me will be released on 24 October, along with the audiobook, in which Spears reads the introduction before Michelle Williams takes over. If you want to get your hands on the title on release day, pre-order it now.
What is Britney’s book about?
On Monday night, Spears’s former Mickey Mouse Club co-star Christina Aguilera appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and was asked if she features in the memoir. “Do you think you will be in it? Has she called you and said, ‘Hey, head’s up…’,” Kimmel asked. After pulling an awkward face, Aguilera said: “Dude, I don’t know.”
In released excerpts of the memoir, Spears shares intimate details of her relationship with Justin Timberlake, about which the “Rock Your Body” singer is reportedly “concerned”. The pair dated in their late teens and early 20s. In her memoir, Spears reveals she became pregnant with Timberlake’s baby but had an abortion. “It was a surprise but, for me, it wasn’t a tragedy. I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day,” she writes. “But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young.”
Spears also recounts some of her most iconic performances, such as “I’m a Slave 4 U” at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, where she held a yellow Burmese python over her shoulders. In an excerpt from the book she writes: “All I knew was to look down, because I felt if I looked up and caught its eye, it would kill me.”
Of course, she includes details of the conservatorship and its impact on her life. “I didn’t deserve what my family did to me,” she writes. “The conservatorship stripped me of my womanhood, made me into a child. I became more of an entity than a person on stage. I had always felt music in my bones and my blood; they stole that from me.” It’s sure to be an interesting read and will give you an insight into one of the most well-known pop stars.
How to pre-order Britney Spears’s ‘The Woman in Me’
The Woman in Me is available to pre-order from Amazon, Waterstones and WHSmith. You can also order the audiobook on Audible for £7.99 (Audible.co.uk) with a subscription.
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