by Faith Evans
First published 2008
Faith Evans opens her heart about life after losing her husband, the rapper known as Big, more than a decade ago. The grief once surrounded her like ice, but slowly she began to heal. She remarried, had more children, and kept making music. Still, moments catch her off guard when she thinks about Big being rushed to the hospital, their final phone conversation that ended badly, and raising their son who never knew his father. Big's debut album was called Ready to Die, but Evans knows he wasn't actually ready to leave. Others have told his story since his death, and now she adds her voice to theirs. But Evans makes clear that her journey extends far beyond her relationship with Big. She faces misconceptions about who she really is because people always connect her to him. Her life has been complicated in many ways. She puts her story forward as both inspiration and warning, hoping readers can learn from her successes and failures.
Genres: grief, contemporary, biography-memoir, music
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, second-chance
Period: 21st-century
353 pages · Hardcover · Grand Central Publishing