The Woman in Me

The Woman in Me is a 2023 memoir by American pop singer Britney Spears. Spears describes her life and career, starting with her earliest memories as a child in Louisiana and continuing through her rapid rise to fame, her difficult relationships and personal challenges, her highly publicized 13-year conservatorship, and her struggle to regain control of her life and finances. The memoir places particular emphasis on her attempts to reclaim her autonomy and  regain her sense of self through music. Many of the events the book covers—particularly Spears’s legal battle with her father, Jamie—are ongoing. This guide uses the 2023 Gallery Books e-book edition of The Woman in Me. Some of the issues discussed in this book are part of ongoing legal and personal disputes. This guide only addresses Spears’s alleged version of events, which may contradict other versions of the story.

Content Warning: The book and this guide include discussions of suicide, abortion, miscarriage, substance use disorder, mental illness, coercive psychiatric treatment, abusive relationships, and the sexualization of minors.

The Woman in Me begins in Spears’s childhood—1981 in Louisiana. Spears is the middle child between an older brother and a younger sister.