The Woman I Was Born To Be

In April 2009, a modest middle-aged woman from a village in Scotland was catapulted to global fame when the YouTube video of her audition for Britain’s Got Talent touched the hearts of millions all over the world. From singing karaoke in local pubs to a live performance with an eighty-piece orchestra in Japan’s legendary Budokan Arena and a record-breaking debut album, Susan Boyle has become an international superstar. This astonishing transformation has not always been easy for her, faced with all the trappings of celebrity, but in the whirlwind of attention and expectation, she has always found calm and clarity in music. Susan was born to sing. Now, for the first time, she tells the story of her life and the challenges she has struggled to overcome with faith, fortitude, and an unfailing sense of humor.

Told with humor and flair, this is the autobiography of one transsexual's wild ride from boyhood as Alfred Brevard ("Buddy") Crenshaw in rural Tennessee to voluptuous female entertainer in Hollywood. This memoir is a rare pre-Women's Movement account of coming to terms with gender identity as Brevard writes frankly about the degree to which she organized her life around pleasing men, and how absurd it all seems to her now. 17 illustrations.

Anna, a German mill-owner’s daughter, marries a French aristocrat and moves to France. She discovers that her husband killed his previous wife and that he is trying to kill her as well. Quick, intriguing, and with an extremely interesting plot, ‘The Grey Woman’ (1861) is a short story by Elizabeth Gaskell for anyone who enjoys a good gothic shudder. Incredibly progressive for its time, it is about the survival of the ill-treated woman who has decided that enough is enough. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (1810-1865) was an English novelist, short story writer, and biographer, best known for her novels ‘North and South’ and ‘Wives and Daughters’ as well as her biography of Charlotte Brontë. Gaskell was viewed as a minor author until the 1950s where it became evident that her depiction of industrial environments and social problems was brilliant and poignant.

A memoir from worldwide singing sensation Susan Boyle—an inspiring story about overcoming struggles and celebrating triumphs, as she achieved her greatest dream. In April 2009, a modest middle-aged woman from a village in Scotland was catapulted to global fame when the YouTube video of her audition for Britain’s Got Talent touched the hearts of millions all over the world. From singing karaoke in local pubs to a live performance with an eighty-piece orchestra in Japan’s legendary Budokan Arena and a record-breaking debut album, Susan Boyle has become an international superstar. This astonishing transformation has not always been easy for her, faced with all the trappings of celebrity, but in the whirlwind of attention and expectation, she has always found calm and clarity in music. Susan was born to sing. Now, for the first time, she tells the story of her life and the challenges she has struggled to overcome with faith, fortitude, and an unfailing sense of humor.