'Melania' by Melania Trump : A blame-dodging masterclass

Melania Trump’s eponymously titled memoir is a 180-page exercise in buck-passing and blame-dodging. The former US first lady blames staffers for plagiarizing Michelle Obama; repeatedly stresses her love for her husband despite professing to abhor lying liars who lie; and declares abortion a fundamental right, without pausing to consider Donald Trump’s role in attacking it via the US supreme court.

Melania is by no means an exhaustive read, but it does leave the reader asking why she has chosen to bare her soul just weeks before the election. Or whether Kamala Harris might more accurately channel her policy preferences than her husband, the Republican nominee yet again.

Many subjects are missing. Not surprisingly, Melania has nothing to say about other women in her husband’s life: E Jean Carroll (the woman Donald defamed and sexually assaulted); Stormy Daniels (the adult film star whose hush-money payments led to Donald’s criminal conviction); Karen McDougal (the former Playboy Playmate who also had an affair with Donald). There are less than a handful of passing references to Ivanka, Donald’s oldest daughter who he said he would have dated if she weren’t flesh and blood and who Melania is widely reported to loathe. Trump’s children by other women barely get a look-in. Melania does repeatedly say she loves her own son, Barron, and her parents too.