The title of Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, is a reference to his position as surrogate son in the line of royal succession. The book is hardly an afterthought in bookstores, however, as the title jumped to the top of several bestseller lists when it hit shelves on Tuesday.
When “Spare” debuted, it ranked #1 on Amazon’s non-fiction bestseller list, while also making it into Barnes & Noble’s top 100 sellers for the same day. However, it may be a week or more before it appears on the gold standard of bestseller lists, The New York Times, since their current nonfiction bestseller list is based on data from sales before December 31, which is before the book’s release date.
In the memoir, Harry, 38, describes his life as part of the royal family, warts and all – and it could be the warts that boost book sales. The memoir covers his decades-long struggle with grief after the death of his mother Princess Diana in a car accident and discusses the conflicts he had with his father, King Charles; his stepmother, the Queen Consort Camilla; and his brother, Prince William, who is the heir apparent.
In the book, Harry writes about his father waking him and his brother, who were 12 and 15 at the time, to tell them of their mother’s death.
“Pa didn’t hug me. Under normal circumstances, he wasn’t very good at showing emotion. But his hand fell on my knee once again and he said, ‘It’s going to be alright,'” Harry wrote of the painful news in his listener narration.
In an interview with Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes, Harry said, “Nothing was right.”
Book bombs
The book details Harry’s experimentation with psychedelics in search of relief from his trauma, as well as his military career and his revelation that he killed 25 people in Afghanistan while serving in the British Armed Forces.
Other bombshells include his claim that William physically assaulted him over tensions surrounding Meghan Markle, who Harry married in 2018. William reportedly called Meghan “abrasive,” “difficult,” and “rude,” according to the book.
“Everything happened so fast. So very fast. [William] grabbed my collar, ripped my necklace and he threw me to the ground. I landed on the dog’s bowl, which broke under my back and the pieces cut into me. I lay there dazed for a moment, then got up and told him to get out,” Harry wrote in Spare.
Reviews: The good, the bad, and the ugly
So far reviews of the book have been mixed, with some critics praising the memoir while others did not. The Economist called it an “unwise gamble”.
“‘Spare’ is by turns compassionate, frustrating, oddly compelling and absurd,” wrote The Guardian in its Monday review of the book.
Other reviewers praised the book, but with qualifications. The Financial Times noted, “You may be wondering if you should read more about Harry, let alone a 416-page book.”
But the reviewer added: “Of all the episodes from Harry and Meghan since stepping down from royal duties in 2020 – the interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Spotify podcasts, the six-hour Netflix documentary – ‘Spare’ is the most bearable and insightful . “
Not exactly high praise, but it might be enough to convince readers to open their wallets and order a copy.