Books about Power Imbalances & Girlhood Interrupted
When too many are too quick to label girls 'fast'
Diddy. Puff. Puffy. Brother Love. Whatever you want to call him, is on trial this week fighting for his freedom against the most heinous allegations. I had long believed that this man was engaging in the kind of strong-arm, music gangster activities of the kind of Big Red in The Five Heartbeats but the video footage, the tales of trafficking and narcotic laced baby oil really shocked me. Remember, he was supposed to be the opposite of Shug Knight. Now, I wonder who is worse. But this post isn’t about Diddy, his music or even his legacy. Although, o understand the trial you need a good history of Sean “Diddy” Combs and his impact on music. Rolling Stone has a good article, Bad Boy for Life: Sean Combs’ History of Violence.
This post is about the women who make these music moguls their money, their girlfriends, their wives, their victims. When I was a kid there was no shortage of young teeny bopper acts to look up to. Monica. Brandy. Shanice. They all came on the scene at fourteen or younger, but if you look out into the industry now, where are the teens? At home being protected by their families. We know too much now about what happens when young girls are brought under the wing of powerful older men with connections.
These books are about that.
Advika and the Hollywood Wives
At age 26, Advika Srinivasan considers herself a failed screenwriter. To pay the bills and keep her mind off of the recent death of her twin sister, she's taken to bartending A-list events, including the 2015 Governors Ball, the official afterparty of the Oscars. There, in a cinematic dream come true, she meets the legendary Julian Zelding--a film producer as handsome as Paul Newman and ten times as powerful--fresh off his fifth best picture win. Despite their 41-year age difference, Advika falls helplessly under his spell, and their evening flirtation ignites into a whirlwind courtship and elopement. Advika is enthralled by Julian's charm and luxurious lifestyle, but while Julian loves to talk about his famous friends and achievements, he smoothly changes the subject whenever his previous relationships come up. Then, a month into their marriage, Julian's first wife--the famous actress Evie Lockhart--dies, and a tabloid reports a shocking stipulation in her will. A single film reel and $1,000,000 will be bequeathed to "Julian's latest child bride" on one condition: Advika must divorce him first.
Shaken out of her love fog and still-simmering grief over the loss of her sister--and uneasy about Julian's sudden, inexplicable urge to start a family--Advika decides to investigate him through the eyes and experiences of his exes. From reading his first wife's biography, to listening to his second wife's confessional albums, to watching his third wife's Real Housewives-esque reality show, Advika starts to realize how little she knows about her husband. Realizing she rushed into the marriage for all the wrong reasons, Advika uses the info gleaned from the lives of her husband's exes to concoct a plan to extricate herself from Julian once and for all.
This is a quick read for people who like reality shows and soap operas, but want to be assured the heroine gets what she deserves in the end.
I, Tina
From small town Nutbush, Tennessee to Hollywood stardom, to global icon. In her life Tina Turner saw it, suffered it, and survived it all.
In I, Tina--the inspiration for the Academy Award-nominated motion picture What's Love Got to Do with It--the legend tells her story how she lived it. An honest account of the beloved superstar's struggle and pain, but also glory and triumph, Turner's is one of the most fascinating and dramatic true stories in show business history.
Spanning decades, from her childhood to her abusive marriage to Ike Turner to the ever-evolving musical genius that endeared her to generations of fans, I, Tina is a powerful memoir of a powerful woman who became one of music's most prolific and beloved icons.
I’ve seen the movie no less than twenty times. Maybe you have too. This book started it all and Tina has said that she had it written to exorcise all those old demons and leave it in the past, but it became its own monster. She was never allowed to leave it in the past and even said in her last documentary, TINA, that while she was internationally known and beloved and very, very rich, that she didn’t have a good life. Too much had happened.
Grown
Award-winning author Tiffany D. Jackson delivers another riveting, ripped-from-the-headlines mystery that exposes horrific secrets hiding behind the limelight and embraces the power of a young woman’s voice.
When legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots Enchanted Jones at an audition, her dreams of being a famous singer take flight. Until Enchanted wakes up with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night. Who killed Korey Fields?
Before there was a dead body, Enchanted’s dreams had turned into a nightmare. Because behind Korey’s charm and star power was a controlling dark side. Now he’s dead, the police are at the door, and all signs point to Enchanted.
We call girl’s fast, especially in the Black community, when they seem to want to be close to older men. We call them fast when they are abused and groomed, but we don’t do enough to understand how these men were able to prey on them. We don’t allow them to be girls. This book details just how a girl can get caught up. It’s a must-read for teens.
Cher
After more than seventy years of fighting to live her life on her own terms, Cher finally reveals her true story in intimate detail, in a two-part memoir.
Her remarkable career is unique and unparalleled. The only woman to top Billboard charts in seven consecutive decades, she is the winner of an Academy Award, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Cannes Film Festival Award, and an inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who has been lauded by the Kennedy Center.
She is a lifelong activist and philanthropist.
As a dyslexic child who dreamed of becoming famous, Cher was raised in often-chaotic circumstances, surrounded by singers, actors, and a mother who inspired her in spite of their difficult relationship.
Cher, much like Tina Turner, left Sonny with little more than her stage name. Until the day he died, she loved him and she eulagized him, but he also stole from her, manipulated her. She’s still kicking on this side of the pearly gates and I always love a good memoir from someone who has more than a few decades to reflect upon.
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