Just days after publication, Michelle Obama's autobiographical memoir quickly became the bestselling book of 2018!
After reading it myself, I'm not surprised. It's not often a book lives up to its hype, but Becoming certainly does. Michelle's inspiring memoir is creatively structured into three parts - Becoming Me, Becoming Us and Becoming More.
Becoming Me details Michelle's childhood growing up in Chicago. As a child she was asked why she talked 'like a white girl' and at high school, despite academic excellence was told 'I'm not sure you're Princeton material'. Since childhood, Michelle has lived a life defying everyone's expectations and she challenges readers to do the same.
While I knew that Michelle Obama began her career as an attorney in Chicago, where she met her future husband, I knew nothing of her personal struggles and misgivings about politics. Michelle describes her triumphs and disappointments in her own words and on her own terms.
The second part of the book, Becoming Us, introduces Barack Obama as a law student, before he became Michelle's boyfriend and then husband.
Michelle shares intimate details of how she suffered a miscarriage and later used in vitro fertilisation (IVF) to conceive both her children. She thoughtfully details her years balancing motherhood and work with the demands of Barack's burgeoning political career.
"I've never been a fan of politics, and my experience over the last ten years has done little to change that," she writes. Michelle explains honestly why she chose to support her husband's run for presidency and how, as the first African American First Lady she helped create the most inclusive White House in history.
Becoming expertly shares a glimpse of Michelle's everyday life alongside meaningful reflection on effective ways to make social change. It is also the powerful story of a girl, from a working-class family on the South Side of Chicago, who became First Lady of the United States.
Michelle Obama served as First Lady of the United States (2009-2017) and began her career as an attorney in Chicago where she met her future husband, Barack Obama before switching to a career in public service. Michelle Obama currently lives in Washington, DC with her husband Obama and their daughters Malia and Sasha.
Reviewer: Andrea Molloy Viking, RRP $55