If Only

In May 1998, the artist formerly known as Ginger Spice caused a media stir when she abruptly left the Spice Girls, the British pop group that exploded onto the international music scene in 1996. In this frank and sparkly portrait of her life thus far, Halliwell explains her surprising decision to go solo, and her rowdy pre-Spice life, in which the childhood dreams of fame led to an early career as a topless dancer and model. Answering an ad in The Stage for an all-girl band, she joined the Spice Girls, who toured the world, released two blockbuster albums and a feature film--an odyssey Halliwell calls ""the best fun imaginable."" Fans will be intrigued by the back story of the band's evolution and the bouts of depression and bulimia that plagued Halliwell even at the apex of her fame. Nowadays, though her first solo album, Schizophonic, was a commercial disappointment in the U.S., a ""more relaxed and balanced"" post-Spice Halliwell serves as as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations and as an outspoken fund raiser for cancer charities. Forever Spice, authored by the four remaining Spices and Dean Freeman, due out in Britain in November, should provide the flipside of Halliwell's tale, and one hopes, detail the rancor over the band's breakup that this book so delicately skirts. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.