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An intmate and humorous portrait of a family living in extraordinary circumstances (Independent )
Charming, frank and funny (Judy Finnegan, Daily Express )
A riveting read (Times )
Genuinely fascinating story (Sunday Express )
Charming, frank and funny (Judy Finnegan, Daily Express )
A riveting read (Times )
Genuinely fascinating story (Sunday Express )
Book Description
* The Number One bestseller
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I've always liked Cherie when i've seen her speaking on TV. I liked this book & found it zipped along, despite being quite hefty.
I'm quite nosy & particularly enjoyed reading Cherie's views on Alistair Campbell, Gordon Brown, the Queen, Princess Anne & The Bush family, to name but a few! It was also interesting to hear about the whole Carole Caplin/Peter Foster/flat buying thing that was in the news a few years ago. I also enjoyed reading about her & Tony getting together, she was also a bit of a two timer in her younger days! Who would have thought. I should also mention that she has done lots for charity & to me seems quite a grounded person, who has to put up with a lot.
A really enjoyable read.
I'm quite nosy & particularly enjoyed reading Cherie's views on Alistair Campbell, Gordon Brown, the Queen, Princess Anne & The Bush family, to name but a few! It was also interesting to hear about the whole Carole Caplin/Peter Foster/flat buying thing that was in the news a few years ago. I also enjoyed reading about her & Tony getting together, she was also a bit of a two timer in her younger days! Who would have thought. I should also mention that she has done lots for charity & to me seems quite a grounded person, who has to put up with a lot.
A really enjoyable read.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Reading the other reviews written about this book will show you that Cherie Blair is a woman about whom everybody has an opinion, and a strong one, at that.
This book is not a political biography, nor an analysis of the first ten years of the New Labour Government. It is a partial biography written by a woman who has some claim to recognition in her own right, but whose major claim to fame is that she is married to Tony Blair. Interestingly, although she uses Cherie Booth as her professional name, and most of her other books have been written under that name, this book was by Cherie Blair.
Cherie Blair is obviously an intelligent woman, graduating top of her year in law, and forging a career at the bar (in what is still a male-dominated profession) whilst looking after a home and family. What's more, she made it against all odds, coming from what was virtually a one-parent family at a time when such families did not receive the support that they now enjoy. Perhaps that goes some way towards explaining her extraordinary blend of shrewdness and naivete.
Surely she must have realised that, on the day after her husband became Prime Minister, there would be cameras trained on her front door - and that any embarrassing photographs would be recycled endlessly? How could she have been taken in by the likes of Carole Caplin? Didn't she have any friends of her own who could have pointed out the obvious truth that hangers-on who were attracted to her because of her position were in it for their benefit, and not hers? Even on leaving Number 10, didn't she realise that her throwaway line to the press about not missing them, even if intended as a joke, would be the thing that most people remembered about her husband's exit from the highest office in the land?
Another strand that runs through this book is Cherie Blair's worry about financial security. That's only natural, given her background, but she is a successful barrister, whose earnings (and earning potential) far outstrip those of most people. She is also married to a man who will not have to rely on his (not insubstantial) Prime Minister's pension, but who has the ability to earn a fortune in the future. Her apparent obsession with money does seem to sit rather uncomfortably on the shoulders of a self-professed left winger.
What this book does emphasise is the difficulty of being a successful woman as well as the wife of the Prime Minister. Most Number 10 wives have kept in the background, but that is not Cherie Blair's way. She seems to believe that the place for the head is firmly above the parapet, and she does seem to have attracted blame for things that were not of her making. As far as I know, nobody blamed Mrs Eden for the Suez crisis, or Mrs Chamberlain for the Munich debacle, so why is Cherie held partly responsible for the fact that her husband ordered the troops into Iraq?
We will all have to wait for Tony Blair's autobiography for an explanation of the political thinking that has shaped the past decade, but this book might give you an idea of what it's like to be in the grey area behind the throne.
This book is not a political biography, nor an analysis of the first ten years of the New Labour Government. It is a partial biography written by a woman who has some claim to recognition in her own right, but whose major claim to fame is that she is married to Tony Blair. Interestingly, although she uses Cherie Booth as her professional name, and most of her other books have been written under that name, this book was by Cherie Blair.
Cherie Blair is obviously an intelligent woman, graduating top of her year in law, and forging a career at the bar (in what is still a male-dominated profession) whilst looking after a home and family. What's more, she made it against all odds, coming from what was virtually a one-parent family at a time when such families did not receive the support that they now enjoy. Perhaps that goes some way towards explaining her extraordinary blend of shrewdness and naivete.
Surely she must have realised that, on the day after her husband became Prime Minister, there would be cameras trained on her front door - and that any embarrassing photographs would be recycled endlessly? How could she have been taken in by the likes of Carole Caplin? Didn't she have any friends of her own who could have pointed out the obvious truth that hangers-on who were attracted to her because of her position were in it for their benefit, and not hers? Even on leaving Number 10, didn't she realise that her throwaway line to the press about not missing them, even if intended as a joke, would be the thing that most people remembered about her husband's exit from the highest office in the land?
Another strand that runs through this book is Cherie Blair's worry about financial security. That's only natural, given her background, but she is a successful barrister, whose earnings (and earning potential) far outstrip those of most people. She is also married to a man who will not have to rely on his (not insubstantial) Prime Minister's pension, but who has the ability to earn a fortune in the future. Her apparent obsession with money does seem to sit rather uncomfortably on the shoulders of a self-professed left winger.
What this book does emphasise is the difficulty of being a successful woman as well as the wife of the Prime Minister. Most Number 10 wives have kept in the background, but that is not Cherie Blair's way. She seems to believe that the place for the head is firmly above the parapet, and she does seem to have attracted blame for things that were not of her making. As far as I know, nobody blamed Mrs Eden for the Suez crisis, or Mrs Chamberlain for the Munich debacle, so why is Cherie held partly responsible for the fact that her husband ordered the troops into Iraq?
We will all have to wait for Tony Blair's autobiography for an explanation of the political thinking that has shaped the past decade, but this book might give you an idea of what it's like to be in the grey area behind the throne.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Quite possibly one of the least popular British women of her generation, a much vilified target of tabloid editors, rarely publicly praised, a frequent target for snide ridicule. Cherie Blair is either loathed or loved, I suspect largely depending on the colour of one's pyjamas. That was perhaps so, until now with the publication of this autobiography.
If I wore pyjamas they would definitely be an un-bleachable royal blue yet I found this is an honest, accessible account - if not spilling any great secrets - of the life of a remarkable woman living a remarkable life in remarkable times. First and foremost an entertaining and enjoyable read.
What strongly comes across are 2 themes - her single minded battle to preserve the sanctity of family life, protecting her children from the adverse effects of their 'celebrity' status; and her successful balance of the rigours of a high profile, high octane career with the pressures of a modern mum. Her `scouseness' shines through with humour, a down-to-earth ruggedness and self-deprecation(assumed or real!). It is refreshing to see revealed Cherie's side of some of the more widely reported `gaffes'; I have to say sympathy more often or not lies with her -as she said herself, `damned if you do, damned if you don't'. I found particularly interesting the brief passage dealing with the aftermath of Princess Diana's death (at some odds with Stephen Frears' film `The Queen'), the so- called 'deal' between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and the book's insights into the inner workings of our legal system and a PM's relationship with the Royal family. The whole `Cheriegate' episode, however, shows Ms Booth at her most naïve - headstrong with little political vision even after so many years as the First Lady. But her tale of the little Saudi boy and his burqua'd mother, how first thing in the morning he would pay especial attention to her shoes so as not to become lost in the crowded shopping malls, brought a real smile to my face. I was disappointed with the skimming stone approach to the issue of Iraq but perhaps this is a potato still radiating more than its fair share of heat - this afterall is her story and not a political textbook! I have not yet read her husband's autobiography but I eagerly anticipate comparing their respective versions of history, looking for conformity and consistency - I would be surprised if Tony had not had editorial input into the final draft.
I bought this book unashamedly to reinforce my negative prejudices. I put it down with a new found respect for this strong minded but fundamentally normal, ordinary wife, woman and mother. The story rattles along at a steady pace (at times I have to say a little too briskly where there is the opportunity to put a bit more flesh on some big issue bones), but this is my only criticism of the book. I suspect the real aim is achieved - Cherie does indeed speak for herself and I suspect is quite happy that her side of events is now presented in 405 pages .
I guess if an autobiography does not ultimately win-over the reader then it has failed - there is no question this one succeeds. No longer for me the reviled woman from the wrong side of the Liver tracks!
If I wore pyjamas they would definitely be an un-bleachable royal blue yet I found this is an honest, accessible account - if not spilling any great secrets - of the life of a remarkable woman living a remarkable life in remarkable times. First and foremost an entertaining and enjoyable read.
What strongly comes across are 2 themes - her single minded battle to preserve the sanctity of family life, protecting her children from the adverse effects of their 'celebrity' status; and her successful balance of the rigours of a high profile, high octane career with the pressures of a modern mum. Her `scouseness' shines through with humour, a down-to-earth ruggedness and self-deprecation(assumed or real!). It is refreshing to see revealed Cherie's side of some of the more widely reported `gaffes'; I have to say sympathy more often or not lies with her -as she said herself, `damned if you do, damned if you don't'. I found particularly interesting the brief passage dealing with the aftermath of Princess Diana's death (at some odds with Stephen Frears' film `The Queen'), the so- called 'deal' between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and the book's insights into the inner workings of our legal system and a PM's relationship with the Royal family. The whole `Cheriegate' episode, however, shows Ms Booth at her most naïve - headstrong with little political vision even after so many years as the First Lady. But her tale of the little Saudi boy and his burqua'd mother, how first thing in the morning he would pay especial attention to her shoes so as not to become lost in the crowded shopping malls, brought a real smile to my face. I was disappointed with the skimming stone approach to the issue of Iraq but perhaps this is a potato still radiating more than its fair share of heat - this afterall is her story and not a political textbook! I have not yet read her husband's autobiography but I eagerly anticipate comparing their respective versions of history, looking for conformity and consistency - I would be surprised if Tony had not had editorial input into the final draft.
I bought this book unashamedly to reinforce my negative prejudices. I put it down with a new found respect for this strong minded but fundamentally normal, ordinary wife, woman and mother. The story rattles along at a steady pace (at times I have to say a little too briskly where there is the opportunity to put a bit more flesh on some big issue bones), but this is my only criticism of the book. I suspect the real aim is achieved - Cherie does indeed speak for herself and I suspect is quite happy that her side of events is now presented in 405 pages .
I guess if an autobiography does not ultimately win-over the reader then it has failed - there is no question this one succeeds. No longer for me the reviled woman from the wrong side of the Liver tracks!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
speaking personally........
After wading through this, I am left with 2 thoughts;
I'd love to get Ms Booth round for a girls' night and fill her full of enough drink to get her to be really indiscreet,... Read more
I'd love to get Ms Booth round for a girls' night and fill her full of enough drink to get her to be really indiscreet,... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ms. Fiona Allen
What about the important stuff ?
The beautiful Cherie Blair (who is not as pretty as Sarah Brown- Gordon's wife) does not write much about her working life. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Billy Ray Cyrus
Buy it second hand
I bought the audio version, so I actually had the pleasure of Cherie speaking for herself; delivering it with all the tonal emphasis and emotion that would really make it come to... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Lizzy
waiste of money
Useless, the title "speaking for myself" sold it for me. I honestly can say I learnt nothing new! Complete waste of time and money!
Published 15 months ago by Cam Sunday
Publish - and be damned
Ok, I confess, I havent actually read this cover to cover. I did listen to the highlights/extracts when it was serialised on Radio 4. Read more
Published 21 months ago by davidr_128
Speaking for myself by Cherie Blair
There always seemed to be such negativity in the press when it came to Cherie Blair so I was curious to learn for myself what made her tick. Read more
Published on 16 Mar 2010 by connie cymru
Cherie is impressive and what an incredible story...
This book is a very good read. Cherie's story is honest, intimate, optimistic, modest, positive, witty, and insightful. Her journey from poverty to First Lady is astonishing. Read more
Published on 4 Nov 2009 by Coebus
Down to earth!
I'm fairly surprised at the range of reviews this book has received from the lowest of the low to top notch and can't help wondering if it depends on people's preconceptions of... Read more
Published on 24 July 2009 by Kat
Read between the lines .. an insult to Britain
An interesting insight into the transmutation of 'left-wing views' when money appears. The Kinnocks and many others show a similar pattern. Read more
Published on 15 Jun 2009 by Rerevisionist
Great read
What a fabulous read and what an incredible woman.
I would disagree with Julia Flyte - I actually did not have a particularly high opinion of Cherie Blair previously,... Read more
I would disagree with Julia Flyte - I actually did not have a particularly high opinion of Cherie Blair previously,... Read more
Published on 15 May 2009 by Rachel
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