Honest [Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

I originally bought and read this when it was released in hardcover nearly five years ago, but as I am re-reading it, I decided she deserved a review.

I didn't like Ulrika; I thought she was an unfaithful, talentless attention seeker. However, after reading the book [and now I am a little bit older] I can finally see her as a woman who's had a tough life, made some mistakes but has lived to tell the tale. For an autobiography, it's very well written which is a bit of a novelty in this day and age [I'd like to think she didn't use a ghostwriter].

Ulrika writes in a very matter of fact manner. She's been used and abused by men, [and life in general] and yet she's no victim.

I wasn't a fan of Ulrika, I thought she was pompous, looked down her nose at people and I found that irritating, until I saw her on Big Brother, where I saw her softer side and I warmed to her. This book was recommended by a friend. Although I wouldn't say it was a page turner, I did find it enjoyable, and very witty in parts. She has a great sense of humour, and this definitely comes across in the book. On a personal note - her early memories of being abandoned by her mother, and being left with her 'cheating' dad clearly affected her life and her lack of ability to choose the right partners in her life, and this was sad to read. I think she still struggles with the relationship with her mother, and I can relate to that.

The book certainly is 'honest', however what you have to remember is that two people can tell very different sides of a the same story and both tell it 'honestly' so yes it's an honest account of things, but from one perspective.

What I struggled to understand though was why she kept making such bad choices of men, and when she starts having children (all bar the John who was the only stability in her life, and whom she chose to cheat on and leave) she naively goes from one bad relationship to another. If I was going to psycho-annalyse I'd say that having stability was not a familiar feeling for her, and that it un nerved her, so she kept on almost punishing herself, going on self destruct, and choosing these unsuitable men, which is fine if you're just on your own, but not when you have children, it seemed immature, careless and selfish. A lot of the time I was wondering when she was talking about others, what their side of the story would have been. It's obviously her thoughts and opinions, but I found myself wondering what the 'other side' of the stories would have been, how they would differ and what they would have said about her. In parts I didn't feel she looked objectively at other people, and as another reviewer pointed out, she depersonalizes and uses 'nicknames' for people she doesn't like 'The German, The Italian' etc... and it does get tedious.

I found it interesting to read about her troubled relationship with Stan Collymore (I only obviously knew what had happened through the press, and I know from experience what they're like), and how her personal and business life was affected by her ongoing problems with the press. But what I found most interesting was how she built her very successful career. She is ambitious, a hard worker and incredibly driven, all of which I very much like about her and admire her for. I love reading about successful women. Ulrika has done incredibly well for herself and I believe she would have found writing her book theraputic, and I hope she has finally learnt from her mistakes seeing things in black and white and that her marriage to Brian will see her settled and happy for many years to come. I wish her all the very best - she deserves it.

A note to some of the other reviewers... there was no ghost writer acknowledged in her book, I read it from start to finish so I can only conclude that this is indeed all her own work with the help of an editor, and if so well done Ulrika! It's a fantastic achievement.

I'm just finishing the book now and have found it to be a real page-turner. From her sad, rather neglected childhood, the book charts her story, through her arrival in England as a foreigner to her rise as an overwhelmingly successful television personality who has had her own shows and presented Eurovision and the Royal Variety Show.

What makes this story so interesting though, is not the steep climb in her professional life, but more the ups and downs and vulnerabilities of her personal life where she paints herself at turns as both villainous adulteress and victim. This is an incredible book and I have enjoyed it thoroughly.