Bestseller!

Britney Spears’ memoir The Woman in Me has sold 1.1 million copies in the US alone through its first week. “I poured my heart and soul into my memoir, and I am grateful to my fans and readers around the world for their unwavering support,” Spears said in a statement released of Wednesday by Gallery Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. The sales figures include pre-orders, print sales, e-books and audiobooks.

The Woman in Me, released on October 24, has been praised by critics as a compelling account of her rise to global fame and her ongoing struggles, including the conservatorship that for years granted her father control of much of her life and her revelation that she had an abortion while dating Justin Timberlake more than 20 years ago.

On the day of publication, Spears posted on Instagram that her book had become ‘the highest selling celebrity memoir in history’.

The Woman in Me, for which she did little publicity beyond Instagram, was the top seller of last week. But Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, which came out in January, sold 1.6 million copies in the US during its first week.

Spears’ memoir helped give a strong boost to streams and sales across her music catalog, according to Luminate, a music and entertainment analytics company. In one day last week, from Monday to Tuesday, Spears’ catalog jumped 18.2 per cent in on-demand streams, and 36.8 per cent in album sales.

The audio edition of The Woman in Me, read by Oscar-nominated actor Michelle Williams, appears a key factor in the book’s initial popularity. — AP