Review: Becoming, Michelle Obama

This memoir, released in the tail-end of 2018, was the much needed tonic, in my opinion, to the end of a particularly tumultuous year.

It's a memoir spanning the rich detail of Michelle's life, from her humble upbringing on the South Side of the Chicago, witnessing the slow decline, yet just blocks away were the sky-rises and high-flying city dwellers that made for a jarring juxtaposition.

Michelle's family was the quintessential, nuclear family - Dad at work, Mom at home raising the kids, the older brother and the younger sister. Michelle writes about her family with honesty of the good and bad times, and love pours from every paragraph. Even though she was witness to the racial prejudices in the African American community, her parents were determined that their children would not be held back by this.


Michelle's education, work ethic, and sheer drive saw her step into the hallowed halls of Princeton and Harvard Law School, into spaces that she, as a black woman, would traditionally be excluded from. She doesn't shy away from talking about this - in fact, she is very frank about her experiences of being the only woman, let alone the only black woman, in the room.


Part 2 - Becoming Us - sees Michelle in a high-flying job as a corporate lawyer in Chicago, on a clear track to make partner. That is, until a certain man comes along and throws a spanner in the works.


Her story of her relationship with Barack, particularly the early days, is a deep and dazzling romance, made all the better for it being real and not an unrealistic story playing out on the big screen.
Politics comes along early into their relationship and it takes a lot of work and compromise to stay strong. This is only made more difficult when their two girls come along. At no point does Michelle gloss over the lows of their marriage and family life - it's an emotional rollercoaster of a journey.


And then comes the long road to the White House. It's a fascinating and dizzying insight into the exhausting world of politics, not least the campaigning, and everything they have to content with as a black family - the phrase "you have to work twice as hard to get half as much done" comes up time and time again.


We, the world, got to see Michelle in so many different areas and arenas, but seeing her take on everything she went through and how hard she had to work to protect her marriage and family life ... it's not something to be envied. Not that I didn't believe her when she said she wasn't going to run for President, but if you're not convinced after reading this book, nothing will convince you of that.


My favourite moments, by far, were not those in America but in England. Her stories of meeting Queen Elizabeth, and developing a genuine friendship with her, were simply lovely - there are no other words for it. Politics and royalty are such dominant forces in our life yet rarely do we get a glimpse behind the red curtain.


The memoir does not end happily - that's definitely the wrong word for it, given everything that ends afterwards - but it does end with a call to resist, be resilient, and hope, above all. It's a powerful portrait of one of the most powerful and pioneering families in the world. Though we may miss them at the forefront of politics, this book is, above all, a promise that they won't disappear into the shadows. They'll continue to spread light, leadership, and love wherever they go.