Melania

If you’re looking for a juicy exposé about the Trump family, you won’t find it in this autobiography. Rather, it’s a plain, put-the-record-straight account of Melania Trump’s history, work, and beliefs.

Before gaining prominence as a U.S. First Lady, she was a haute couture model in Europe’s fashion centers, later in America. She grew up in Slovenia during the tail of its communist regime, studying architecture and interior design. At the same time, she was keen on the arts and fashion—and, unexpectedly, performance cars. Modeling was a hobby, introduced by her mother, a clothing designer, when Melania and her sister were kids. When Melania physically matured into a poised and professionally mannered beauty, modeling became a career.

Her family has been the center of her life throughout, and almost the only people mentioned by name in her autobiography (aside from public figures and key personalities in the fashion industry). She inherited her parents’ integrity and work ethic and embraced their unrelenting support, from playroom to the White House and beyond.

In a state of privilege that transcends money, Melania was given personal freedom of choice, authority, and control over her own body and life inconceivable to many women around the world, and encouraged to dream big and follow wherever her vision and energies would take her.

No surprise, she landed the United States. Here she went through the long, complex process of becoming a citizen, which gave her insight into the immigrant experience unknown to the average person or politician and which influenced her later efforts.

Throughout her sojourns in Europe and America, she earned her own money and carved her own path. This led one night to a glitzy party where she met and fell in love with a rich and controversial businessman. They formed a balanced and satisfying partnership; eventually married and had a child. He had political ambitions on a national scale; she had philanthropic ambitions for as far as she could reach, but remained centered on family.

When her husband became President of the United States, she “found myself in unprecedented times: a nation divided, a hostile media, and my unconventional status as the first foreign-born First Lady in centuries. The United States is my beloved home, though not my birthplace; English is not my native tongue. Our family is not a political dynasty; we hail from a different realm. These differences compelled me to forge my own path, guided by my own principles and convictions."

Her principles and convictions, bolstered by the fact she’d been able to live by them unimpeded, instilled an idealistic naïveté that, simultaneously, allowed her to dive into good works for others’ well-being and ill-prepared her to deal with the viciousness burgeoning in her adopted country—much of it aimed at her husband. Initially, she chose to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to avoid being sucked into a negative vortex, understanding that nothing she could say would change the attackers’ minds.

But soon it turned too personal, and she fought back against lies about her being flung around the world. She did not, and will not, accept having her reputation and relationships poisoned, her good-intentioned efforts thwarted. Her lawsuits eventually resulted in retractions and apologies, but by then the damage had been done and nobody was listening.

She’s a devoted optimist, though, and carried on through the highs and lows, giving readers scant details about her personal life. Although she recounts many of her trips around the world—solo and with a political entourage—and many of the scandalous incidents that occurred during Trump’s stay in office, the accounts are mostly acknowledgments, with little or no insider information offered. She tells us where she was and what she was doing, and describes her thoughts and reactions, but otherwise leaves the impression that she was observing, not experiencing.

The entire narrative has an arm’s-length-distance feel, a report, not an intimate story. Some readers will be put off by this. Others will appreciate her discretion and prudence. The book holds to its intent, stated right up front in the Author’s Note:

“I believe it is important to share my perspective, the truth, especially in these times of division and uncertainty. As a private person who has often been the subject of public scrutiny and misrepresentation, I feel a responsibility to set the record straight and to provide the account of my experiences.”

That’s exactly what you get.

What she could write freely about was her responsibilities as a First Lady. Perhaps some of her predecessors have described the job, but Melania shows just how big a job it is—double so if you’re a parent with a school-age child, and also running an independent business. The domestic and hosting requirements of a world leader’s headquarters and residence are enormous and require a strong organizer and manager over a large staff, contractors, and interagency personnel, negotiating constantly around a schedule for travel and public appearances that would melt down most CEOs, with intense security teams underfoot and protocols to obey.

Readers uninterested in such logistics will be bored by the information. However, those who have always wondered how one actually functions in the White House, and as a world leader’s partner, will appreciate the information.

In sum, if you begin with little to no knowledge about Melania Trump, her autobiography will tell you where she came from, how it formed her, what she did with her life, what she still wants to do with it, and what she believes, in a thorough outline. If you want a deep dig into her heart and mind, plus behind-the-scenes looks at her marriage and political events, you’re out of luck. She leaves you with the black-and-white option (reflected in the book’s packaging) to take her or leave her, admire her or disrespect her.

She’s made her statement and stands by it.