About the Author

Mary McAleese was born in Belfast in 1951. In 1975 she was appointed Reid Professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin, and in 1987 she became Director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at Queen's University Belfast. She was elected President of Ireland in 1997, and re-elected unopposed in 2004. Since stepping down as President in 2011, she has earned a PhD in canon law while emerging as a forceful critic of the institutional Church's misogyny.

Reviews

A fascinating story and well worth the read
*Irish Times*

Riveting ... A fiercely urgent reminder to the world - and the Government - that peace must never be sacrificed for politics
*Telegraph*

I was enthralled and absorbed by this memoir ... Riveting
*Sunday Independent*

Artful, entertaining and often enlightening - one of the few memoirs by a senior Irish office-holder that's actually worth reading
*Sunday Times*

What an incredible life lived by an outstanding role model. I ate this book up
*Sinéad Moriarty*

A meticulously researched and recorded history of the past half-century in Ireland and the story of a life passionately committed to working for peace
*TLS*

Full of conviction and isn't afraid of plain speaking ... Priests, popes, paramilitaries and Ian Paisley are all held to account
*Herald Scotland*

[A] chatty, provocative and embraceable biography
*RTÉ Guide*

Excellent
*Irish Daily Mail*

Compelling ... Displays many of the qualities that made her such a popular president
*Business Post*

A warm and witty insight into an extraordinary woman
*Irish Daily Mail*

An immensely readable effort from that rarest of figures - a politician you actually like and admire
*Hot Press*