Over the Influence

In her fascinating debut, singer Levesque chronicles her rise to fame and subsequent disappearance from the spotlight. She begins with an account of her tumultuous childhood in 1990s New England as the only daughter of parents who met in Alcoholics Anonymous. Both of her parents sang and played instruments at home, and Levesque’s vocal gifts became clear by age two. By 12, she’d turned down one recording contract for a better one, “scaring the shit” out of her mom as she galloped toward stardom. In bingeable, sometimes-hilarious prose, Levesque recounts the early success of her songs “Too Little, Too Late” and “Leave (Get Out),” and the humiliation of getting booed while opening for Usher in France. She balances those frothy reflections with darker subject matter, including sections on her compulsive use of alcohol and sex to escape the “discomfort of being in my own skin,” and how her rapid ascent caused her mother’s mental health to worsen. Whether she’s discussing the 2013 lawsuit she filed against her record label for keeping her career in limbo or waxing poetic about the physical pleasures of singing, Levesque sets this celebrity memoir apart with her bracing candor and generous refusal to villainize those who’ve let her down. It’s a memorable glimpse behind the curtain of fame. Agent: Abby Walters, CAA. (Sept.)