Singer Toni Braxton pretended to speak in tongues while worshipping at her parents' extremely strict church to appease fellow worshippers.

The R&B hitmaker has opened up about her time at the Pillar of Truth church, a rigid Christian sect, in her new tell-all tome, Unbreak My Heart: A Memoir.

Braxton alleges in the book that followers of the faith were ordered cover their bodies from head-to-toe, were prohibited from drinking alcohol, listening to pop music and celebrating holidays.

She also explains that she pretended to speak in tongues to appear closer to God, and insists her time at the church left her wracked with "anxiety" and "guilt".

She writes, "I began connecting religion, God and church with judgment, anxiety and guilt... The times that bound us together became the ties that strangled us. Our family had fallen into religious extremism."

Unbreak My Heart: A Memoir was released on Tuesday (20May14).