Born in 1915 to young teenage parents, Billie Holiday opens her autobiography with revelations about the shocking treatment she experienced in childhood before recalling how, on the brink of homelessness, she tried her luck at singing for money – stunning her audience; earning enough money for the rent, ‘a whole chicken and some baked beans’; and setting herself on a path to stardom.

Born in 1915 to young teenage parents, Billie Holiday opens her autobiography with revelations about the shocking treatment she experienced in childhood before recalling how, on the brink of homelessness, she tried her luck at singing for money – stunning her audience; earning enough money for the rent, ‘a whole chicken and some baked beans’; and setting herself on a path to stardom.