Rating: 5/5
Spoiler Alert! If you haven’t read the book, this review will contain spoilers so it’s up to you if you continue…
As if we didn't all know that Michelle Obama was an incredible and inspiring woman, her autobiography reveals the life-long industry and resilience that helped her become who she is today.
I rarely, if ever, read auto-biographies. It's not because I dislike them, but there are few people who I am interested enough in to read about their lives. Admittedly, reading about a person's life in their own voice rather than the sterile anonymity of wikipedia is more interesting, but with so many books in the world, sometimes it's easier to do a direct search for the info I want about a person. Since Becoming was published however, it's been sitting on my TBR list, I just had to wait to find a copy. Lo and behold, my boyfriend's mum was reading it when I visited and let me borrow it.
Now that we're more than half-way through the year, I think I can safely say that Becoming is a contender for my book of the year. It was so inspiring and touching to read about Michelle Obama's journey. As open and public as the Obama's were during the presidency - sometimes by necessity and sometimes by choice - there's a lot I never knew about their lives. That's not entirely surprising, but I never knew, for example, how much of a newcomer Barack was to politics. He rose up the ranks incredibly quickly, but Michelle makes it evident that this wasn't some stroke of luck but took a lot of hard work, determination and vision.
Becoming contains a lot of life lessons about working hard to see your vision become reality. And I don't just mean in terms of Barack's presidency, but Michelle's education and professional journey were all results of her own determination (and the work of those around her) to fulfil the future she saw for herself. The importance of education is truly emphasised at the end her story as it was one of her focuses as First Lady, but even before she is using her position to encourage and inspire children, it is evident Michelle recognises her own education as the cornerstone of the life she built for herself. She worked hard in school to attend Princeton, ignoring a guidance councillor who didn't think she could make it. She worked incredibly hard at Princeton, to go on to attend law school, and then gain a rewarding position at a law firm.
Maybe more importantly though, and what I hope will stay with me the longest from this book, is that it's okay to change your life if you aren't happy - even if it outwardly appears like you should be. Maybe some part of law was rewarding, but after meeting Barack, Michelle begins to realise that, despite this being the future she had striven for, she wasn't happy in it. That is such an incredible lesson to learn. To face up to the truth that things aren't always what you thought they might be, and to then make an active attempt to change that and find what truly makes you happy, takes a strength I hope to learn from.
Throughout Becoming Michelle is candid about the negatives, the hard bits of life - as well as her lack of belief Barack could ever make it to presidency. This view of life was refreshing and inspiring. When something pushed against her, she pushed back as best she could, using whatever platform she had at the time. It was also important to me that the honesty of the book extended to admitting she never wanted to get involved in politics, that she didn't like the vagueness of the role 'First Lady'. It's clear that without Barack, she never would have got into politics. I'm sure it's not revolutionary for a First Lady to say she never thought about living in the White House, but it felt important that Michelle was open about all the negatives that came with being there. This feeling is probably rooted in the fact she was honest about these things, but followed it with the ways she made the role, and the house, her own. There were negatives, but there was also incredible opportunities, which she never wanted to waste.
The ending of the autobiography takes a tragic turn. I would label it shocking, but we know what has been happening in America, I can't pretend to be shocked to confront the shooting of black Americans, the open publicity of racist agendas. None of it is shocking, but as with everything else, Michelle is candid with her thoughts. The Obama's own lives do not turn tragic at the end - if anything their new freedom is joyfully expressed as Barack steps away from the presidency - but way she can list shootings left me speechless. How a country that had seemed to progressive when they voted Barack in - when they voted for him to have a second term - could come out of those eight years in such a state makes no sense to me. The disappointment in Trump's presidential win is evident in Michelle's writing, but so too is the hope she still feels for her country. The optimism, the vision her husband created which she still believes in, is at the core of the ending. This book is full of inspiration and hope, and Michelle will remain an inspiration for me for life.
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