Just for the Record is the second autobiography from ex-Spice Girl, dog lover and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, Geri Halliwell. In If Only Geri charted her "rags to riches" journey from Watford to the point at which she dramatically left the Spice Girls. In this sumptuously illustrated book she candidly explains "what happened next".
Her post Spice Girls life has not, it emerges, been easy. Having buried "Ginger Spice", Geri admits it has been a struggle to shake off her old image and establish herself as solo artist. While she did eventually manage to clock up four No. 1 singles and two Top 10 albums, she was plagued by stalkers and the tabloid press and battled with depression and a serious eating disorder. She confesses to regularly starving herself and to bingeing on a chocolate cake fished out of a rubbish bin. The most unnerving thing about this book is the contrast between the images it contains and some of Halliwell's more painful reminiscences.
The story has a happy ending: with the help of friends George Michael and Robbie Williams, Geri managed to beat her eating disorders. She now advocates eating well and exercising regularly and seems, even with a somewhat flagging musical career, genuinely content with her lot. The prurient will be disappointed to find she only has nice words for ex-lover Chris Evans and her former colleagues. Wannabes everywhere will find this girl still has the power to charm. --Travis Elborough
