If you’re on social media, perusing online, or just venturing into bookstores these days, it’s likely that pop music icon Britney Spears’ new memoir, The Woman In Me, has come to your attention. And, well, it’s certainly come to ours.
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There’s a lot to know about the book that just hit shelves on Tuesday (October 24). From the book’s subject matter to its high-profile narrator, here is what we know so far—we’re sure much more will be revealed soon.
[RELATED: Britney Spears Shares Excerpt from Upcoming Memoir: ‘I Didn’t Know What I Was Doing’]
1. It’s a best-seller
Though the book came out this week and, by definition, it’s too early to say whether it will be an official New York Times best-seller, it’s pretty clear it’s shaping up to be. And even before the NYT gets its hands on it, Amazon has already shown that it’s a best-seller on the website. As of this writing, it’s the No. 1 book on the site, which boasts a library of over 10 million titles. That’s no easy task. But when you’re Britney Spears, everything is possible.
2. Michelle Williams is narrating the audiobook
The emotive, five-time Academy Award nominee Michelle Williams is the book’s narrator, bringing her keen, powerful, and alluring voice to tell Britney’s story. Fans can even check out a clip of the recording below as Williams reads an excerpt about Spears’ famed and controversial conservatorship.
3. Pregnancy Termination
As many pop music fans know, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake dated around the turn of the 21st century. From wearing matching denim outfits to canoodling in public, they were the envy of many. Perhaps the biggest celebrity couple of their time. Even they couldn’t escape the tumult. Not only did they break up under difficult circumstances, leading to Timberlake’s scathing “Cry Me a River” hit single, but the two apparently, according to Spears, terminated a pregnancy.
Sharing an excerpt of the book, Spears wrote, “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. If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father.” She continued, “To this day, it’s one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life.”
4. Justin dumped her over text messages
Speaking of the Spears/Timberlake relationship, not only did the duo have to face an abortion, but Timberlake dumped Spears over a text message. That move, she said, left her “devastated” and “comatose in Louisiana” as “[Justin] was happily running around Hollywood.”
[RELATED: Britney Spears Shares Favorite Performance Ahead of New Memoir]
Spears also talks about hanging out with Timberlake and his boy band *NSYNC, which, she writes, sought out the attention of Black artists.
5. She writes about her younger sister
Britney and her younger sister, Jamie Lynn Spears, have historically had a tumultuous relationship. Spears doesn’t shy away from writing about her baby sis in her new memoir. “When I tell you she was a total bitch,” Spears writes, “I’m not exaggerating.” Hear Williams read below.
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