This memoir, Pamela Anderson’s first after over 30 years in the public eye, is peppered with poetry and narrative alike. Love, Pamela tracks her life from a rocky Canadian childhood and low sense of self-worth, until a chance discovery and ascent to glamour model fame and magazine covers. Anderson overcame her shyness to become a quintessential 1990s icon – but, as she relates, underneath the Hollywood veneer lay a feeling of emptiness.

Longing to be more free-spirited, her love of art and literature – often expressed publically, over the years – was often in stark contrast to the world of materialism and superficiality she found herself in. A prime paparazzi target, here Anderson bluntly shares her feelings on how awful the world of celebrity can be, and how women are used and objectified. 

In a search for purpose, she put her energy into activism, focusing on the causes she cared about most – using that international stardom to campaign for animal welfare, notably the illegal capture of whales. Humbling experiences, she recalls. Anderson continues to champion environmental and sustainability issues. 

Love, Pamela is candid, but doesn’t wallow or deny its author’s privilege: the takeaway is less that her life is imperfect, more that we are all imperfect people and cannot depend on others to bring us happiness. Ultimately, she was able to gain control of her life, help others less fortunate than herself, and achieve self-fulfilment: one latter-day personal triumph was treading the Broadway boards with a role as Roxie in Chicago.