I’ve been meaning to read this memoir for over five years now. When it first came out, it quickly became the talk of the literary world. I repeatedly tried borrowing the book from my university’s well-stocked library in Singapore, but despite housing multiple copies, it was always loaned out due to popular demand. I looked for it on Kindle, but oddly enough, it wasn’t available for the longest time. I reluctantly complied with my vow not to buy any more books because we had long run out of shelf space at home. Eventually, I got caught up with other books on my to-read list, but this one never really left my mind. Memoirs aren’t usually my go-to genre, but when they are well-written and engaging, especially through a female lens that explores the depth of human emotion and experience, they tend to stay with me long after I’ve finished them.
Published in 2018, Becoming is the deeply personal and widely acclaimed memoir of Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the United States, lawyer, and advocate for education and health. In this compelling narrative, Obama traces her journey from a modest upbringing on Chicago’s South Side to her years at the White House, offering honest reflections on race, identity, motherhood, marriage, and finding one’s voice. The book not only became an instant bestseller but also won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for its audiobook version, narrated by Obama herself. With warmth, wit, and clarity, Becoming invites readers into the life behind the public figure and gives us all something to think about in our own process of becoming.
Review
Michelle
Obama rose from humble beginnings on the South Side of Chicago to inhabiting the halls of the
White House in Washington DC. Growing up in a small one-bedroom apartment on the top floor of a house
in a rough neighbourhood, with limited financial means and a father living with
a disability, it would have been easy to assume the odds were stacked against
her. But the deep-anchoring love of her family, a home filled with music, culture,
and soul, and parents who held high expectations for her and her brother turned
out to be more than enough for Michelle to rise above adversity.
Michelle Obama graduated from two Ivy League
institutions, became a lawyer at a prestigious law firm, served as Vice
President at a hospital, led a non-profit that helps young people build
meaningful careers and went on to become the First Lady of the United States of
America. She juggled the roles of daughter, wife, mother, friend, employee, employer and public figure, all while
navigating extraordinary circumstances. What I admired most was her journey of
self-acceptance because despite many setbacks and seeds of self-doubt, she comes to acknowledge
her intellect and owns her unique story with pride.