In a life that is nearly a legend spanning almost eight decades, Tina Turner still manages to surprise us with her insight. Taking the long view, she invites readers to share her miseries and her victories in MY LOVE STORY.

Before Tina Turner, there was Anna Mae Bullock, daughter of a sharecropper in the “don’t blink or you’ll miss it” town of Nutbush, Tennessee. When she was 11, her mother abandoned the family. In school, she struggled to read and do math (she later realized she was dyslexic), yet her creativity seemed to be in bloom even then. She always loved to sing, and that would be her saving grace. Her talent lifted her out of her upbringing, thanks in large part to her relationship with Ike Turner, a charismatic musician and bandleader who recognized and exploited Tina’s abilities on stage.

"MY LOVE STORY is a pungent shack-to-chateau saga that shares new revelations and refreshing wisdom, entwined with a romance that was a long time in the making, and well deserved."

Tina describes the “Ike years” in vivid detail. Even as Ike encouraged her natural verve and brought her out as a performer --- she once spontaneously jumped off the stage into the orchestra pit while eight months pregnant --- he stifled most of her other abilities and wishes, beating her often. Until one evening she hit him back, grabbed a bag and walked out, with no regrets.

Considering herself a seeker, Tina consulted with psychics and delved into eastern religion. Then she met Erwin Bach, a European music producer who was younger than her. Both were smitten. They stayed together for many years, finally marrying in Switzerland where Tina had taken citizenship. Not long afterwards, a stroke and other symptoms led her to dialysis and the need for a kidney transplant; Erwin obliged, becoming as much hero as husband in her eyes.

Tina’s memoir is written with a remarkable memory for details that will delight her fans and engage even those new to her image, which has been remade more than once. When she left Ike, she was told that her career would never rise again. But, in fact, it has soared, with associates like Cher, David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Mel Gibson buoying it to new heights. She has won eight Grammys, and her 1984 solo production, Private Dancer, sold 20 million copies. She portrays herself as a quietly spiritual person who, once past the young naïve years and the desperations of an entrapped marriage, could and would find a better way. Yet she never relinquishes her love of makeup, décor and fashion. That, she would say, is Tina.

MY LOVE STORY is a pungent shack-to-chateau saga that shares new revelations and refreshing wisdom, entwined with a romance that was a long time in the making, and well deserved.