Author(s): Christopher Andersen

Biography/Memoir

'She is my rock - the one person who keeps it real' - Barack. 'Barack and I complete each other - as partners, as friends and as lovers' - Michelle. They exploded onto the national political scene in 2004 and within four years captured the ultimate political prize. In so doing, they became a First Couple like no other: he, the biracial son of a free-spirited Midwesterner and her brilliant-but-troubled Kenyan husband, raised in Hawaii and Indonesia; she, raised on Chicago's hardscrabble South Side by working-class African American parents who sacrificed so she could achieve her dreams of an Ivy League education and a job at one of America's top law firms. By the time they claimed the White House in one of the most hotly contested presidential races in modern history, Barack and Michelle Obama were seen by millions around the world as the new Jack and Jackie Kennedy - brilliant, attractive, elegant, youthful and exciting. Given the historic significance of what they accomplished together, the marriage of Barack and Michelle stands as one of the great personal and political partnerships. Seemingly overnight, they managed to obliterate barriers that had stood for centuries and to accomplish this phenomenal feat with humour, grace and dignity. Yet, incredibly, the true nature of their relationship has remained a mystery. Until now. Christopher Andersen draws on those who know the Obamas best to examine in detail the unique partnership and the grace, courage and humour that defines it. An inspiring, sympathetic and compelling look at two remarkable individuals, "Barack and Michelle" is, above all else, a revealing and stirring love story.