Becoming

Becoming is much more than the story of Michelle Obama becoming First Lady. It is also the story of a woman trying to hold on to her own identity, ambitions and career while her partner's career gradually becomes bigger, more demanding and eventually all-consuming.

Michelle first meets Barack Obama at the Chicago law firm Sidley & Austin, where she is a young associate and is assigned to mentor him during his time as a summer associate. What follows is extraordinary in hindsight: over the years, she stands beside him as his career moves from community work and local politics all the way to the White House.

What makes the memoir particularly interesting for working parents is that Michelle does not tell this story simply as the supportive spouse of an ambitious man. She is candid about what Barack's ambitions meant for her. During the same years, she was building a serious career of her own, becoming a mother to two daughters, managing childcare and family life, and repeatedly reconsidering what she wanted her professional life to look like.

The book captures something many dual-career families experience on a much smaller scale: two careers rarely develop independently of each other. One person's opportunity can create pressure on the other person's time, flexibility and ambitions. There are seasons when one career takes more space, but that does not mean the other person stops having aspirations of their own.

Michelle's own path also changes several times, moving through law, public service, nonprofit leadership and healthcare before taking another turn when Barack becomes President. Becoming is ultimately a story about continuously redefining who you are as your family, career and circumstances change.