Shania Twain is one of the most popular Canadian singers of all-time, but fame was not easy–she came from an abusive home, lost both her parents in a car accident and her husband cheated on her.
Despite it all she responds back, “When everything goes without a hitch, where’s the challenge, the opportunity to find out what you’re made of?”
Twain opens up for the first time in an emotional roller coaster ride to the top of the music world in From This Moment On. Born Eileen Twain, she explains how growing up in Ontario in the 1970’s with a mixed heritage household was far from easy. Twain grew up not with her biological father, but with a father that was barely more than 20 years old and was a Native Canadian. With brothers and sisters that were adopted or from her new dad and mom, Twain had to ration what little food and clothes they had.
Early on Twain had to become a leader and keep the household in check. From making sure her mom got up in the morning from being so depressed, to hitting her dad back from one of his rage outbursts, Twain took on a lot of responsbilities, including packing up her family and moving away from her dad’s abuse.
Although her mom was a crushed soul, she was able to help Twain try her hand at her passion in life, music. Performing at bars, schools and clubs early on gave Twain a crash course in how men are jerks and breaking the nerves of performing on centre stage.
At age 22, an untimely accident took both her parents away from her. She wrote “Send It with Love” in tribute of them. Along with the rise of her career when she met her future husband Mutt, Twain gives readers insight into many inspirations for her hit songs, including “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” and “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?”
While Twain admits her time with actor Sean Penn in the music video “Dance With The One That Brought You” was an incredible experience, Mutt is the one that helped pushed her into superstardom. Yet at the top, Twain still felt like a loner.
“The whole purpose of making music is to connect with people, and yet the more your popularity grows, the less you are able to interact with your audience any closer than from the stage and through your records. Fame can be isolating.”
Twain always maintained a hard shell, a shell that became even harder when she discovered in 2008 that her husband had an affair with one of her close friends. Twain explains early on in the book that personal and private conversations were going to remain private, but she is very open and personal about the end of her marriage.
“I am so low, so brokenhearted I can’t take it anymore. I wish you love and happiness, but I am dying, and I can’t take it anymore. This is killing me. Have mercy. I loved him so much, and I can’t cope anymore. I don’t want life or love anymore. I just want peace.”
Twain explaining how she tried to keep her feelings bottled up while around her son Eja, but failed, is some of the most real heartwrenching literature in any autobiography. Fortunately, Twain did find love again and is able to spread a positive message to struggling souls all across the globe.
Fans that are diehard or only know her through her music, definitely should give this a read. 448 pages of an amazing life that somehow prevailed against incredible odds. Her book is so jam-packed with real life issues people go through daily, but she shows that through her hard work and willingness to give it her all every time made her more successful than she originally thought possible. There are laughs when she learns about masturbation, there are tears with the many tragedies in her life, and there is always a strong urge to read what adventure she tackles next.
From This Moment On
By Shania Twain
Simon & Schuster
448 pp.
Released May 3, 2011