Shania Twain: From This Moment On

I've long been a fan of Shania Tawin. She's a Northern gal, she always seems very down-to-earth, she sings well, and I loved how she appeared at the Juno Awards some years ago wearing different hockey sweaters of Canadian teams. I knew that she had had a difficult childhood, and that her parents had both died in a car accident, and more recently, the news of her marriage breakdown because of the affair her husband and producer was having with her best friend and confidante made me sympathize with her even more.

I really enjoyed reading this book - her childhood was even more difficult than I knew- a lot of physical violence between her parents, much of which she witnessed, extreme poverty ( she tells of taking a sandwich made with mustard as the only filling to school), and finding escape in her music - writing and singing songs. Her mother was very much involved in getting her career in music started, and it's also interesting how, as an adult, Shania still has a lot of respect for her father, despite the fact that he beat his wife so often, seemingly more over financial difficulties than any troubles with alcohol or drugs.

Her rise through the music business is interestingly told - I never knew that emerging artists basically "shop" for songs in Music Row in Nashville ( our hotel was next to the Row when we visited there three years ago) and how Mutt Lange, her husband and partner, was such a master in producing her albums, and helped her go in musical directions much different from other country artists.

She's quite candid about the marriage breakdown, and the developing relationship with Fred, her husband now, who was the husband of her best friend, Marie-Anne, who is now with Shania's ex....( will there be a test on this after??)

She is also quite inspirational, and I especially appreciated the fact that she got through a lot of these situations in her life on her own two feet and using good common sense - not giving all the credit to God as so many of the country artists do. And I will always admire someone who could lead a tree-planting crew of men at age 17, set a bear trap and wash clothes in a river. Way to go, Shania!!