The raw passion and pain that made Amy Winehouse such a compelling performer seemed to spill out from a constantly broken heart that sat weeping in the darkness. This book takes the childhood diaries written by that broken heart, pairs them with family pictures, letters home, handwritten lyrics and artfully posed photoshoots to chart the course of her life without revealing anything much at all. Curated by her parents, it feels a little like an Alan Bennett play – a couple cheerfully telling the world how happy their daughter was and noting, just briefly, that she spiralled into depression and addiction. No parent wants to dig through the mucky dysfunction that all families nurture, although without doing that nothing is ever learned.
Photograph Chris Christoforou/Redferns
