Never Broken

Songs Are Only Half the Story

By: Jewel

Narrated by: Jewel

New York Times best-selling poet and multiplatinum singer-songwriter Jewel explores her unconventional upbringing and extraordinary life in an inspirational memoir that covers her childhood, rise to fame, marriage, and motherhood.

When Jewel's first album, Pieces of You, topped the charts in 1995, her emotional voice and vulnerable performance were groundbreaking. In the tradition of Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell (she has been compared to both), a singer-songwriter of her kind had not emerged in decades. Now, with over 30 million albums sold worldwide, Jewel tells the story of her life and the lessons learned from her experience and her music.

Living on a homestead in Alaska, Jewel learned to yodel at age three and joined her parents' act, working in hotels, honky-tonks, and biker bars. Behind a strong-willed and independent family life, with an emphasis on music and artistic talent, was also instability, abuse, and trauma.

At age 15 Jewel was accepted into the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, where she began writing her own songs as a means of expression. She was 18, homeless, and living out of her car in San Diego when a radio DJ aired a bootleg version of one of her songs. It was requested in the top-10 countdown, something unheard of for an unsigned artist. By age 21, her debut album went multiplatinum.

There is so much more to Jewel's story, one complicated by family and financial woes, by crippling fear and insecurity, by parents who forced a child to grow up far too quickly, and by the extraordinary circumstances in which she became a world-famous singer and songwriter. Here Jewel reflects on how she survived and how writing songs, poetry, and prose have saved her life many times over. She writes beautifully about the natural wonders of Alaska, about pain and childhood trauma, and about discovering her own identity years after the entire world had discovered the beauty of her songs.

©2015 Jewel (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Quite a Life's Story

Jewel had quite the life. She does a great job of retelling her story, but gets bogged down toward the end. The last few chapters of the book are a big disappointment as Jewel bombards us with mystical hooey. I would have liked to know more about her divorce, but she is uncharacteristically unforthcoming in those passages. Also, I REALLY could have done without the a cappella versions of her songs--that's what Spotify is for, Jewel. That said, this was better than I had expected, and I applaud Jewel for making it under circumstances that would stop anyone else.

I wish this didn't have to end!

This was a wonderfully inspiring story. I've been reccomending it to everyone!! Besides this being an incredible memoir, it was a motivational read with lots of gentle amd helpful tips for loving a better life and creating healthy relationship connections.

Never Broken

Beautifully told, raw and honest. I connected to her as a person and as a women in the journey of healing. Thank you for sharing yourself as a human in a strange and toxic industry.

love you Jewel

Fight for your love. Being strong, having the will to do your best. Give all that you have.

Honest!

Any additional comments?

Amazing life and incredible accomplishments despite all the obstacles. She is painfully open and honest letting you in on the dark parts of her life while remaining very classy and not embarrassing anyone!

Her story is the song

I love that Jewel was the one reading this and that there was the bonus of her singing too. It made it so personal. I listened on a trip from East TN to Southern MS and it was like having Jewel along for the ride. Her life, hard as it was, made her the strong person she is now and can lend hope to anyone. Whether you're a fan or are simply struggling with this thing called life, this is definitely worth your time.

inspirational

your beautiful words for inspirational to every Walk of Life I would recommend this book to any person

An Unusually Enlightening Celebrity Memoir

Would you consider the audio edition of Never Broken to be better than the print version?

The print version does have some beautiful images that the audio version, but Jewel does a great job of narrating.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Never Broken?

Jewel's struggle with her mother as her manager

What about Jewel’s performance did you like?

Her voice was beautiful in narrating the story, she even sang some her songs which I enjoyed.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"Not your average singer"

Any additional comments?

Jewel included everything I wanted to know in this book. She included a great deal of detail of her childhood in Alaska, her gigs in bars and her adventures hitch hiking. It was surprising to read that Jewel who seems rather sensitive (music joke intended) and sweet had a rather rough and tough childhood and that she is not your average modern day singer. She is also a great writer who paces her story very well. She does not deter away from any detail due to it being uncomfortable whether its her relationship with her mom, the criticism of her pop album and her divorce which was very refreshing. She defends her decisions if she felt it was right and regrets them if they were wrong. Overall it was great read and I would recommend this book to anyway interested in hearing Jewel's story.

An honest and true account. Highly Recommended

If you could sum up Never Broken in three words, what would they be?

Never Broken Indeed

What did you like best about this story?

The honesty with which Jewel talks about her life

What does Jewel bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

THE SINGING!!!!! :-)

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The Afterword

Any additional comments?

Having listened to Jewel's music since she started out, I especially loved this book as it gives such an in-depth account of her life and how it influenced her music, it brought all the songs I loved so right back. She looks deep and honestly into herself, her roots, her journey, her triumphs and shortcomings, her successes and failures. Even if you're not a Jewel fan, please get this book! You might become one after reading it. Thank you, Jewel. You're a kindred spirit indeed. Good luck!!

A bit of a mentor

I liked it. It’s not a literary masterpiece but instead some facts and inside scoops on a persons life who didn’t have it easy yet truly brought themselves up by their own boot straps and shares her pitfalls and successes. Jewel goes even further to inspire others and you can feel have us earnest to implore them with advice. She’s not condescending— instead brutally honest and very generous with how and why she made it to a better place . I loved it.