Spoken From the Heart [Hardcover]

This book lives up to its title. Laura Bush is open about her childhood, her longing to have a sibling to play with and her disappointment when told the new baby her mother was due to have would not be arriving. She refers to the photographs which her father brought back from the Nazi death camp at Norhausen which were kept in a cigar box but which he never spoke about. She's honest about her father's drinking, smoking and gambling and, where relevant, her own. As a teenager she was involved in a car accident in which the driver of the other car (a student at her school) was killed. She dealt with it by putting it out of her mind, not to provide herself with an excuse, but because she grew up in an era when "least said, soonest mended" was the accepted way of dealing with grief. Her pain was internalised and has acted as a barrier throughout her life.

Laura Welch's college years coincided with rapid social changes in the United States. Yet, while some hailed Betty Friedian's The Feminine Mystique as the start of the feminist revolution, it made no impact on what Welch wanted - a husband and a family. Although she admits her college years were filled with too much alcohol and tobacco which, over time, she realised shortened the lives of many of her contemporaries, she believes herself fortunate to have graduated before the impact of drugs came about. Welch subsequently worked as a teacher, acted as a librarian and read voraciously. She was concerned as each year passed that she had no wedding ring on her left hand but within six weeks of dating George W Bush he proposed and the thirtyone year old "old maid" of Midland, Texas, married the town's most "eligible batchelor".

Laura Bush slotted easily into the political aspirations of the Bush family, campaigning for her husband and her father in law but her main wish was to have children of her own. The Bush's were considering adoption when Laura Bush became pregnant with twins. Her mother's miscarriage and complications in her own pregnancy created personal anxiety while her two daughters arrived five weeks early. It was not the end of Bush's health concerns. Her father was diagnosed with Alzeimer's and her mother declined into dementia. It seems contradictory that while she became an advocate of health diplomacy, especially for women in the Middle East, Laura Bush never thought of translating that diplomacy into the social policy of the United States.

The discussion of her life as First Lady to Governor and President George Bush is the best part of the book. It becomes clear that George and Laura Bush are ideally suited to each other, respecting each other as individuals. Bush was a regular drinker and Laura made her views known without forcing him to make a choice between the bottle and her. He recognised the situation for himself and abandoned drinking when he was forty. She recalls the moment during the Presidential debates in 2000 when candidates were asked which philosopher influenced them most. Bush said, "Christ, because he changed my heart." Unlike the caricature which appeared in the media this was Bush at his strongest. Prior to the 2004 election she asked him not to make gay marriage an issue, as they had friends and children of friends, who were gay, the most prominent being Mary Cheyney the daughter of Vice President Dick Cheyney. Bush held to his own views.

Laura Bush did not see herself as a political activist in the Hillary Clinton mode, although she did take up issues in which she was interested: education, literacy and the advancement of women. Her main public comments were about the impact of politics on women, including Aung San Suu Kyi who was held under house arrest by the Burmese government. Bush was never comfortable in the glare of publicity in her role as First Lady although she accepted it came with the job. Its broader impact was that it affected her family as she found when her daughter tried to buy alcohol with a false ID. George Bush's ancient drink driving conviction nearly cost him the 2000 election. Bush reveals the American First Family are responsible for their own personal costs, including their clothes, meals, the meals of anyone coming to the White House as personal guests, dry cleaning and hairdressing. And our MP's think they are badly treated!!!!!

Although she enjoyed public service Laura Bush has re-settled happily into regaining control of her private life. She remains a Republican and does not dissent from George Bush's policies in Iraq and Iran but her political instinct is one of non-partisanship. She made a point of inviting critics to the White House hoping they might recognise the meanness of spirit with which they portrayed her husband. She was often disappointed. This book has many fine qualities, unfortunately consistently good writing is not one of them. Bush's ghost writer, Lyric Winik, may be "a talented and beautiful writer" but the book is uneven and patchy, especially in dealing with the pre-White House years. It's more like abstract art rather than a portrait. The former may have meaning but the latter recommends itself. Sill it's a book well worth reading even though the uneven nature of the narrative earns a four star rating, rather than a five.

Absorbing book. I saw her in a tv interview where she came over as very warm and sincere with many stories of her time in the Whitehouse. I bought the book and wasn`t disappointed. Gives a real insight into her background, and how she coped in the media spotlight and the workings of the Whitehouse. Having said that - the answer to one question still eludes me. How DID she find George Dubya attractive? I guess that`s a whole other book.