lynne spears: not just britney's mother

I received a complimentary copy of Through the Storm from Thomas Nelson (the publisher) to review.

Through the Storm is a compelling read. Lynne Spears isn’t interested in spilling all the scandalous details of Britney’s recent past; rather, she’s telling her own story. This is the story of a wife dealing with an alcoholic husband and crumbling marriage; the story of a sister facing the loss of the sibling she’d looked up to her whole life; the story of a mother who simply wanted the best for her children.

Yes, Spears was naïve, which she freely admits. At times, I wanted to yell, “What were you THINKING?” But the fact that she reveals her naiveté adds credence to her words. Especially powerful is her description of the day Jamie Lynn revealed her pregnancy. I could feel Spears’ fear, anger, and heartbreak, and I found myself empathizing with her.

The one thing that detracts from the book is its lack of organization. It’s not strictly chronological, which causes some confusion. In most cases, each chapter picks up where the previous left off, but then chapters like “Friends,” in which Spears discusses her best friends, break into the continuity. When I started the next chapter, I wondered where Spears was in the timeline of her life.

However, the lack of organization is a minor detail; Spears is a good storyteller, and it’s easy to get swept up in each story and not worry too much about where it fits in chronologically.