Unbreak My Heart: A Memoir

by Toni Braxton

Overview

In this heartfelt memoir, six-time Grammy Award-winning artist and star of WE TV’s reality hitBraxton Family Values, Toni Braxton writes about her personal life decisions and their impact on her health, family and career.

While Braxton appears to be living a gilded life—selling 60 million records, appearing in sold-out Las Vegas performances and hit shows like Dancing with the Stars, and starring in her own reality series—hers is in fact a tumultuous story, a tale of triumph over a life filled with obstacles, including two bankruptcy filings. The mother of an autistic child, Braxton long feared that her son’s condition might be karmic retribution for earlier life choices, some of which will shock fans. But when heart ailments began plaguing her at the age of 41 and she was diagnosed with Lupus, Braxton knew she had to move beyond the self-recrimination and take charge of her own healing.  Intensely honest and deeply inspirational, Unbreak My Heart is the never-before-told story of the measures Braxton took to make herself and her family whole again. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062293305
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	05/20/2014
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	203,912
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Toni Braxton has won six Grammy Awards and sold more than sixty million records worldwide. Her hit song "Un-break My Heart" still stands as the number two all-time bestselling single by a female recording artist. Currently, she is the star of the WE tv hit reality series Braxton Family Values and the new Lifetime original movie Twist of Faith. Braxton was the first African American woman to play a leading role in a Disney Broadway production when she starred as Belle in Beauty and the Beast, and she has headlined in one of the top ten Las Vegas shows of all time. Toni is a passionate advocate for both Autism Speaks and Lupus L.A.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

chapter 1 Losing My Breath 5

chapter 2 Country Life in the Suburbs 15

chapter 3 Pillar of Deceit 30

chapter 4 "Homey Toni Braxton." 43

chapter 5 Levi's and Puppy Love 56

chapter 6 Miracle at Amoco 72

chapter 7 Good Life 89

chapter 8 Going Solo 102

chapter 9 The Boomerang; Soundtrack 114

chapter 10 Grammy Nightmare 129

chapter 11 Bankrupt 139

chapter 12 Headlines and Heartache 158

chapter 13 Battle Wounds 172

chapter 14 "Life Is Not a Fairy Tale" 182

chapter 15 Leaks, Lies, and Revelations 192

chapter 16 Dangerous Liaison 199

chapter 17 A Motherly Instinct 208

chapter 18 The Vegas Showstopper 219

chapter 19 "How Did I Get Here Again?" 229

chapter 20 Braxton Family Values 236

chapter 21 Breathing Again 248

Acknowledgments 261

Editorial Reviews

Braxton recounts her struggles candidly... It’s the reflective, positive tone that makes this tell-all intensely readable. For fans who loved her in her heyday or recently found her on her reality show, Braxton Family Values, this is a must-read.

Booklist

11/01/2013
Titling this memoir after her most popular song, R&B star Braxton talks reality TV, health, and family, sharing how she overcame her own struggles with heart problems and Lupus and her son's autism.

Library Journal

2014-05-07
Six-time Grammy Award winner Braxton speaks out regarding her turbulent personal and professional lives.From the time Braxton was a little girl growing up in rural Maryland, she wanted to be a star. By the mid-1990s, she had achieved that goal, and her 1996 single, "Un-break My Heart," from her second album, "Secrets," became a chart-topping, certified-platinum success. Yet guilt, financial and personal troubles, and ongoing family health issues have pockmarked the author's projected glamorous life. In 1988, 21-year-old Braxton and her four sisters landed their first recording contract. "No one could've predicated the painful episode that would follow: Five bright-eyed Braxton sisters would soon be narrowed down to one." For many years, Braxton suffered severe guilt about accepting a record deal that excluded her sisters, and the decision infuriated her mother, which added to Braxton's sense of dismay. The author's success was also marred by two bankruptcies, a divorce and her son's autism diagnosis. The author faced her own health crisis during her Las Vegas show when she received a diagnosis of lupus. "My diagnosis that day marked the beginning of my road to recovery," she writes, "but it was also the end of my Vegas run." The author eventually disclosed her condition on the family reality TV show Braxton Family Values, which began in 2011 and features her mother and sisters. Braxton seems intent on establishing a secure pathway through life's inherent messiness. "I'm starting to realize that we're not supposed to keep everything lined up and in perfect order—even with our best efforts, we can't accomplish that anyway," she writes. "Instead, we're meant to find lessons in both the chaos and the cleanup."Overly sentimental, but Braxton fans will applaud the star's candor and perseverance.

Kirkus Reviews