(Reviewed by JD Jung)
“Barry and I were the anti-Obamas”
“That means that I have the dubious honor of being the first First Lady to leave her husband after he left office. And all the mail I got after I left—fan mail, hate mail, and everything in between—wanted to know why I had done it when Hillary Clinton and Melania Trump, two women who had had just cause to leave, had chosen to stay.”
Former first lady Shelley Diggs was not the “typical” woman to hold that title. First, she retained her maiden name, dropped out of college, had a baby before marriage and was raised by a sexually promiscuous single mother in the projects. Physically, she considered herself average looking and stood at barely five feet tall.
This contrasted with her to-be husband, attorney Barrington “Barry” Welles. Barry was a mama’s boy and mom didn’t like Shelley. Shelley, a struggling novelist questioned whether he would have married her—being from a different social and economic standing— had she not gotten pregnant.
Barry decides to run for City Council and later his political aspirations take him to the role of one of the most powerful men in the world.
Shelley resented living in her husband’s shadow and felt closed in. She hated the Secret Service detail and felt that she had little control over her own life. When she could make a decision for herself, it was critically examined by the media, from wardrobe to hairstyle. So why did she decide to get a divorce after he left office?
Former First Lady takes us on an entertaining journey on how one independent woman deals with this life-changing role. The reader will wonder on how much of her past affects her present-day feelings. While I think many women will be able to relate, there are still surprises. This very human, well-written novel will keep you wondering if the problems will ever get resolved. An engaging read.
