It’s hard to believe that almost a year has past since the tragic death of singer Amy Winehouse. In honour of her life, and to raise awareness of the troubles she incurred, Amy’s father Mitch has written a memoir in which he has decided to share ‘warts and all’.

Talking to The Metro about putting the book together, Mitch said, “Writing it wasn’t too bad but reading it back after the first draft was very difficult. I wasn’t emotionally prepared to read over the bits about Amy’s childhood and what happened when she passed away.”

Asked when he began to worry about his daughter, he said, “When she married Blake [Fielder-Civil]. I knew it wasn’t going to end up well. Then in August 2007, I had confirmation she was a drug addict. I found silver foil she’d been smoking drugs on in a hotel room and someone told me it was heroin.

“I said she had to go to rehab. Blake said he was going as well to support her but I thought he had no intention of giving up drugs, so it was a waste of time. I was watching my daughter get thinner and thinner. She was clearly ill and her relationship with her husband was based purely on drugs.”

Amy’s friends and family have always been adamant that the Amy portrayed in the press was different to the girl they all knew and loved. This book is Mitch’s way of giving a more balance view on her character. He continued, “I’ve had people saying it’s tragic she overdosed from heroin or committed suicide – she didn’t. I wrote the book warts and all because everyone knew Amy was a drug addict and alcoholic – there’s no point pretending she wasn’t – but I also wanted to tell her fans what a wonderful, generous girl she was.

“When Amy was in St Lucia, she paid for a man’s hospital treatment and didn’t tell anyone. Another guy owned horses on the beach and wouldn’t let the local kids ride them because they were for tourists, so for one month, Amy paid him for the horses and put all the kids on them for their summer holidays.”

Amy, My Daughter is published tomorrow by Harper Collins, with proceeds going to the Amy Winehouse Foundation.