Becoming…

About the Book:

An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States.

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America-the first African-American to serve in that role-she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.

In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her-from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it-in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations-and whose story inspires us to do the same.

My Thoughts:

At the risk of sounding a bit like the blurb, this really was an intimate, thoughtful, and inspiring memoir. Michelle writes as though she’s having a conversation with you, inviting you into her life with a view towards sharing and exchanging. I was filled with a sense that she is person who cares deeply about society and applies herself with passionate integrity to everything she turns her hand to. A woman who does not take her place in the world for granted. The included photo section was wonderful, particularly the concluding family album. Even with this, her photo captions were filled with honesty and warm recollections, as though you were a friend catching up on all the news. You can tell a lot from a photograph and these all spoke volumes, a mixture of professional and candid. I was left both inspired and mournful, the loss of decency and hope within the Whitehouse all the more apparent.

‘For every door that’s been opened to me, I’ve tried to open my door to others. And here is what I have to say, finally: Let’s invite one another in. Maybe then we can begin to fear less, to make fewer wrong assumptions, to let go of the biases and stereotypes that unnecessarily divide us. Maybe we can better embrace the ways we are the same. It’s not about being perfect. It’s not about where you get yourself in the end. There’s power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice. And there’s grace in being willing to know and hear others. This, for me, is how we become.’

☕☕☕☕

Becoming
Published by Penguin Random House
Released 14th November 2018