"Like most women I know, I juggle a lot—work, children, family, money, running a household, steering my own ship," Allen wrote. "But I haven't always managed. I've f--ked up a good deal.

"Like most women I know, I juggle a lot—work, children, family, money, running a household, steering my own ship," Allen wrote. "But I haven't always managed. I've f--ked up a good deal. I can be a f--k-up. You'll see."

Sounds painfully normal, if she puts it that way, but the f--king up in her case involved self-medicating with substances (she doesn't consider herself an alcoholic or recovering addict, but acknowledges she suffers from depression) and trying to fill a void with paid female escorts while she was on tour—and still married.

The breakup of her four-year marriage to Sam Cooper was painful but they ultimately ended up as friend, with the two of them sharing custody of their girls, Ethel May and Marnie Rose. It was other trauma in her life—experiencing sexual harassment in the music business, being bullied and humiliated by the press, dealing with a stalker for seven years—that broke her heart.