In THE WOMAN IN ME, worldwide entertainment icon Britney Spears depicts the person behind the image --- an often insecure, self-blaming young woman battling the perils of stardom after escaping the complexities of a difficult childhood and the near-constant stalking by the press, which sought to see her as flawed as often as they extolled her many talents.

Spears was born into an ostensibly respectable family atmosphere in the Bible Belt of Mississippi. By age three, she was dancing competitively; at five, she was singing loud and clear; and when she was a preteen, she was being drafted into the Mickey Mouse Club. But, as she reveals in this frank and at times harrowing memoir, her ability to perform had a dark side. It gave her internal relief and external escape from a highly dysfunctional family --- a censorious mother and, most especially, a domineering and abusive father.

"Told in her intimate first-person perspective, Spears’ recollections provide fodder for her true fans, those who have seen and hope to see more of what she diligently aspires to convey here --- the real Britney Spears."

Performing and recording became Spears’ source of pride and palliation. She skyrocketed to fame as her first solo album went platinum and was a worldwide bestseller. Constantly in the limelight, she still had private interludes, one of which was described as a paranormal experience in the company of a close girlfriend, and she initiated her own study of Eastern religions and the Kabbalah. She was beginning to perceive that what she needed was “some time to myself.” But what ensued was more extraordinary fame, adoring fans and universal acclaim, contrasting with failed marriages, a custody battle over her two sons with Kevin Federline, and sufficient confusion, inner torment and high living. The latter convinced her conniving father that she wasn't competent enough to manage her career or personal responsibilities.

Jamie Spears made the legal case that his daughter should be put under a conservatorship, with him as her controller, both physically (so that she spent a lot of time in the next 13 years in various rehab facilities) and financially (giving him open access to her considerable fortune). The literal trials that she endured, along with her sense of humiliation, anger, self-doubt and spiritual seeking, comprise the bulk of the book. This is not a litany of her successes so much as it is a recounting of her struggles, her challenges and, ultimately, her victory over the many people and forces seeking to possess her success and her soul.

Told in her intimate first-person perspective, Spears’ recollections provide fodder for her true fans, those who have seen and hope to see more of what she diligently aspires to convey here --- the real Britney Spears. All great stars have a life beyond the limelight, and that is what Spears illustrates. Now freed from legal restrictions, she still loves to sing, no longer thinking of herself as “almost too fragile.” She is rebuilding, self-analyzing, and learning to forgive, forget and feel thankful for each new day.