Blues vocalist Janiva Magness pours out her harrowing life story in this 260 page memoir. In it she recounts her dark and lonely life of growing up with having both parents dying of suicide before being placed in a series of foster homes. Stories of alcoholism, early pregnancy, addiction and “what else could happen” moments are recounted in a brutally honest fashion by Magness, who claims seeing Otis Rush performed was the turning point of her life.
As she reveals, life didn’t exactly turning into a Precious Moments card, but her eventual recovery is a story worth reading, if only to realize “if she can do it, by God’s grace, so can I.” Like her soulful albums, this book hits your gut.