Unbreak My Heart

May 15, 2014
Braxton's Unbreak My Heart might be her best-selling single and the title of her memoir, yet the instructive phrase she uses most comes from another hit single, Breathe Again. She sure has needed to come up for air, often. Braxton recounts her struggles candidly. Choosing her solo music career over her sisters early on, filing for bankruptcy twice, a divorce, her youngest son's autism, and her own lupus diagnosis are all laid bare. Sometimes the tone of her exposition is a tad too sunny, especially while recounting the realization that her father was bringing his girlfriends to her show, the beginning of the end of her parents' 35-year marriage. It's the reflective, positive tone, however, that makes this tell-all intensely readable. Braxton name-drops in a way that brings the late 1990s R&B scene roaring back. Her first-name-basis friends include Kenny Babyface Edmonds, L. A. Reid, and Clive Davis. For fans who loved her in her heyday or recently found her on her reality show, Braxton Family Values, this is a must-read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)