Speaking for Myself: The Autobiography

I sort of knew who Cherie Blair was, but after reading this I am so impressed with Mrs. Blair. Her path from childhood through law school and into Number 10 is amazing as it is human. Mrs. Blair admits her mistakes, and is then humble with her triumphs. If someone is looking for a strong female bio that doesn't involve a sex tape this is it. I read and re-read it. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a bit of inspiration.

I can't imagine Laura Bush or Hilary Clinton penning a book as candid, and funny as this. Cherie Blair is not afraid to show herself in an unflattering light or dish about her love life. She discusses posing nude as an artist model for extra money when a student; the fact that son Leo was conceived when she forgot her contraceptives and how Downing Street did not offer any domestic staff. Blair is a natural story teller and the book is full of anecdotes from her humble beginnings, life as working mum of four and a prime minister's wife (don't know how she juggled all this and still kept up her profession as a barrister) and her impressions of various political figures and members of the royal family. Through it all, her great love for her husband and her family shines through.

I first heard about this book from an appearance of Ms. Blair on the Jay Leno show. She was so charming, funny and witty that I decided to purchase her memoir. I found this to be a joy to read. It was full of clever stories about her life before and now after her husbands terms. I highly recommend this book.

Reading this autobiography was like talking to a best friend, who just happens to be the irrepressible Cherie Blair. There is much information, told very honestly and wonderfully openly. It is a great example of the saying that "truth is stranger than fiction". A novelist could not make this stuff up! Unlike many autobiographies, Cherie does not sugar coat anything or avoid any subject. She reveals herself completely: the wins, the losses, embarrassing but fascinating details that would make some blush. She even tells about her childhood in a way that makes it seem like a thrilling carnival, e.g., both her parents being actors, the ongoing antics of her father both funny and sad. I suppose I was expecting something at least somewhat boring, written by a Barrister and the wife of a PM, but no--this book is a real page turner! You will be LOL many times while reading this book. Cherie has well earned her 5 stars!

Cherie Blair's main claim to fame is her marriage to Tony Blair who was Britain's Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007. However she is also an interesting individual in her own right: the daughter of a famous actor who has had a prestigious legal career as well as having a front row seat for recent political events. She was widely disliked in the UK, and I have to say that if you don't like Cherie Blair, this is probably not the book that will change your mind. I started reading it with an open mind, but by the end even I was getting tired of her! Having said that, I enjoyed reading "Speaking for Myself" and I recommend it (which may sound strange, but only if you think you need to like the subject of a biography to enjoy reading it). One of the things that has always intrigued me about Mrs Blair is that she is such a contrast: a high achiever with a great deal of intelligence and yet so devoid of emotional intelligence that she is oblivious to the way that she comes across. It's clear from reading this book that she is a warm and caring person, intensely loyal to her family and friends, who does a lot for charity. It's also clear that she has poor personal judgement and no idea how to read situations. Cherie grew up in working class Liverpool. Her father was largely absent from her life (she only found out that she had a new step-sister when she saw the birth notice in the newspaper). She was raised by her grandmother and mother and developed a strong sense of feminism from an early age. What's interesting is that she then chose to go into law - one of the most conservative occupations that she could have chosen - and to marry a man whose political ambitions meant that she was condemning herself to playing a support role. She makes a throwaway comment at one stage about how simple her life could have been had she chosen to marry someone else, but the fact is that she made her choices knowingly and yet proceeds to complain about the consequences at great length. It's hard to muster the sympathy that she clearly feels she deserves. Cherie also has a preoccupation with financial security, which is not attractive but nevertheless understandable given her working class background. What she doesn't seem to get however is how inappropriate it is for a woman in her privileged position to complain about being hard up. Instead it's as if she thinks that if she just explains one more time about how Tony went from earning £80,000 per annum to £20,000 per annum when he became an MP, then we'd suddenly get it and feel sorry for her. In the early days of Tony's political career, he and Cherie had a strong partnership. The dynamic between them changed when he became PM. Cherie had to accept that she didn't get to know what was going on and that Alastair Campbell would make decisions about what she could and couldn't do. She felt quite isolated in Downing Street (at one point she refers to herself as "the prisoner") and probably as a consequence she developed