Shania Twain: From This Moment On

By Shania Twain

After reading Shania Twain: From This Moment On, I am filled with admiration for Shania and all she has overcome in life. I’m also impressed that she wrote her 2011 autobiography herself. She says it began as an exercise to deal with the trauma of the extreme betrayal by her husband and her best friend. It expresses deep emotions that are clearly written from the heart. She doesn’t whine, brag, make excuses, or point fingers. She accepts responsibility for her actions and describes her feelings as best she can.

The first half of the book covers her youth in Canada as Eilleen Twain. Her parents fought so violently that she frequently thought her mother had been killed. The family was so poor that they sometimes lived in a one-room basement and the children went to school dirty and without food. After her parents built a tree-planting company, she worked summers as a teenager planting trees in the forests with crews of men. At age 22 she became guardian of her three younger siblings when her parents were killed in a vehicle accident. Her passion was songwriting, and she preferred singing harmony but had to be a lead singer to make an income. Then she moved to Nashville and became Shania Twain.

In the second half of the book, she talks about the record albums she and husband Mutt Lange made together and describes her extensive tours throughout the 1990s. She focuses on her feelings and actions, filling in factual details as needed. The couple moved to Switzerland, where Shania knew no one and couldn’t speak the language. She became friends with Mutt’s assistant, and the two women supported each other as they gave birth at the same time.

When Shania worried that Mutt was having an affair in 2008, her friend assured her he would never treat her that way. Until the friend’s husband came to inform Shania that their spouses were having a longstanding affair. Who would think Shania Twain could feel worthless as a person? Who would think she could have body image issues?

For anyone living in an abusive relationship, I highly recommend this book. You will know you aren’t alone. For anyone with self-worth issues, I highly recommend this book. Overall, it proves that money doesn’t buy happiness and that the image you form of yourself in your childhood stays with you forever.