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A Book for Anyone Who Has Been Told They’re Too Much
by Cynthia Erivo
The English singer-songwriter and Wicked star shares her secrets to living a fulfilling life.
As a Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning actress and singer, Erivo, 38, who identifies as queer and bisexual, still considers her persona to be “more than many people expect or want.” She admits it’s taken years to release herself from others’ judgments and internally validate her outspoken personality in order to live the truest and fullest version of herself. Threaded throughout the book’s surfeit of dream-big guidance, sage takeaways, and supportive cheerleading, the author shares her love of running and singing, alongside personal anecdotes about her youth, growing up fatherless in a South London maisonette with just her Nigerian mother and sister as a “bossy, bubbly, chatty” child who “would sing absolutely everything.” After attending an all-girls Catholic school, Erivo honed her burgeoning performance skills through auditions, a degree from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (despite feeling like an outcast), and subsequent stage roles that followed, including her 2015 breakout Broadway role in The Color Purple. As her stage star rose, Erivo’s queerness became an integral part of her identity, manifesting early with crushes on girls; she considered her sexuality as simply “the cherry on top of who I am.” She discusses being awestruck when seeing Wicked on stage and the “deep connection” felt toward Elphaba, fueling her kinship to outsiders, and the need to “dilate my imagination, to stretch it big enough until I could see myself as a potential Elphaba.” Besides the insider details of her Wicked role, the book’s greatest feature is its balancing act as both an entertaining, reflective memoir and an uplifting motivational guide. Erivo remains an enchanting narrator throughout and connects with her fan base through a positive, proactive, and compassionate blend of emotional strength, identity, and resilience.
A spirited celebrity memoir that’s also a boundless source of inspiration and heartfelt encouragement.