Novel Thoughts: A Quick Review and Giveaway of the Bestseller ‘My Love Story’ by Tina Turner

Last October, rock-soul legend Tina Turner released her latest memoir “My Love Story” which went on to become a bestseller on the New York Times list. Thirty two years after her first autobiography “I Tina”  written with Kurt Loder became a bestseller, and twenty five years after the subsequent Academy award-nominated film “What’s Love Got to Do with It” was released, Turner expounded on what readers thought they knew about her life with Ike Turner and shared new memories about her life and courtship with her husband Erwin Bach, and her battles to overcome several recent illnesses and deal with the untimely death by suicide of her eldest son Craig.

A quick read and a page turner, no pun intended, from start to finish, “My Love Story” is full of honest reflections, learned lessons, and personal accountability despite the actions, and in some cases inaction, of others.

I was amazed at how revelatory Turner was sharing how she did, and still does, process what could have led the late Ike Turner to behave in such abrupt and abusive manners – a lack of this being an issue with some critics of the first novel and the film, including Laurence Fishburne who portrayed Ike Turner in the 1993 movie that starred Angela Bassett as Tina.

I also enjoyed the anecdotes shared about high profile persons throughout Turner’s career that helped her – often times becoming great friends like Cher, Mick Jagger, Ann-Margret and the late David Bowie, or in some cases inspired her unknowingly like the late legends Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and James Brown and the late First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

If you’ve never read “I, Tina,” and if you have and are interested in the continuation of Ms. Turner’s journey, “My Love Story” is a quick and easy read describing not just the downs but the ups of a life synonymous with a warrior spirit.

I look up to the stars with my perfect memory
I lived through it all, and my future’s no shock to me
I look down, but I see no tragedy
I look up to my past, my spirit running free
I look down, I look down, and I’m there in history
Oh I’m a soul survivor – from I Might Have Been Queen (Private Dancer, Tina Turner 1984)

The positivity that Turner expresses in recounting her lowest lows and highest highs is a great motivator which makes this an easy one to highly recommend. I give the book a 3.5 out of 5 on the MMTrometer.

MY LOVE STORY is available now in digital and hardcover and will be released tomorrow, September 3, in paperback. You can get additional details and purchase the book here.

In celebration of the new release, MMT is giving away a hardcover copy of the book. In order to enter the contest, you must be an active subscriber and send your full name and address to contests@musicmoviesthoughts.com with the subject line “Soul Survivor” and the name of the Tina Turner song that vamps out with that line! One winner will be selected and notified by Saturday, September 7.

Until next thought, Thomasena

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MY LOVE STORY A Memoir by Tina Turner (Atria Books) NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Tina Turner—the long-reigning queen of rock & roll and living legend—sets the record straight about her illustrious career and complicated personal life in this eye-opening and compelling memoir.

From her early years in Nutbush, Tennessee to her rise to fame alongside Ike Turner to her phenomenal success in the 1980s and beyond, Tina candidly examines her personal history, from her darkest hours to her happiest moments and everything in between. My Love Story is an explosive and inspiring story of a woman who dared to break any barriers put in her way. Emphatically showcasing Tina’s signature blend of strength, energy, heart, and soul, this is a gorgeously wrought memoir as enthralling and moving as any of her greatest hits.

About the Author Tina Turner, born Anna Mae Bullock, is a singer and actress whose career has spanned more than sixty years. She has won numerous awards, including eight Grammys. Tina began her music career with her husband Ike Turner as a member of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Success followed with a string of hits including “River Deep, Mountain High” and “Proud Mary.” She divorced Ike in 1978 and, after virtually disappearing from the music scene for several years, rebuilt her career, launching a string of hits including her 1984 solo album Private Dancer. In 1986, she published a bestselling memoir I Tina which was turned into the Academy Award-nominated film What’s Love Got to Do with It in 1993. One of the world’s most popular entertainers, Tina has sold more concert tickets than any other solo music performer in history. She lives with her husband, Erwin Bach, in Zurich, Switzerland.