When Giorgia Meloni became Italy's first female PM in 2022, many commentators dubbed her the "far-right heir of Benito Mussolini", and claimed that she wanted "to dismantle democracy", said Nicholas Farrell in The Spectator.
Three years on, Italy remains a democracy, and Meloni's party, Fratelli d'Italia, is more popular than when she came to power – an "almost unheard of" feat for a governing party in the West today. Meloni's memoir, "I Am Giorgia" – "already a bestseller in Italy" and now translated into English – describes how a "short, fat, sullen, bullied girl" from a single-parent family in Rome transformed herself into a prominent figure on the "largely male-dominated world stage".
There are some frustrating omissions: given Meloni's past membership of Italy's "long-dead post-fascist party" Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI), she "should have spelled out why" she considers herself a conservative and not a fascist.
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Even so, her book tells an "amazing story". Meloni has a "candid, self-deprecating streak", which is "amply illustrated" here, said Tom Kington in The Times. She admits that her father's lack of love – he walked out on the family when she was a child – drove her to succeed in male environments. Her writing is full of "pop and literary culture references": she learnt English by listening to Michael Jackson; she is a fan of "The Lord of the Rings", and as a young MSI activist, dressed up as a Tolkien character to entertain children.
Like most political autobiographies, this one is "self-serving", and glosses over sensitive episodes, said Colin Freeman in The Telegraph. For example, her break-up with TV host boyfriend Andrea Giambruno – after he was recorded making lewd comments to female colleagues – is barely mentioned. Still, with its mix of "humour and bluntness", this is a "punchy memoir".
