On the reality show “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” Mayci Neeley is bubbly and collected, a person who weighs her words and is fastidious in her appearance. But beneath the cool, every-hair-in-place exterior is a survivor.
In her upcoming memoir, “Told You So,” which will be published Oct. 7 by Simon & Schuster, Ms. Neeley, 30, a popular Instagram and TikTok influencer, delves into the abusive relationship she said she was trapped in during college, and the experience of losing a different boyfriend in a car accident while she was pregnant with their child as a sophomore.
Relying on diary entries and notes she took for therapy sessions, Ms. Neeley recounts in direct, stripped-down prose how the relationship that still gives her nightmares devolved into violence; the underground party scene she partook in during her early days at Brigham Young University; her love story with Arik Mack, and its tragic end; and the winding path toward accepting herself as a mother, pro-choice feminist and Mormon.
In mid-September, Ms. Neeley arrived for an interview outside the West Hollywood Park tennis courts in a black SUV. Her husband, Jacob Neeley, 29, exited the car first, holding their 7-week-old daughter, Charli.
Ms. Neeley exited next, dressed in heels, slouchy jeans and a breast pump under a cardigan. She’s been on a press whirlwind, and “I’ve been on the pumping grind,” she said later in a phone call.
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