Where the Light Enters: Building a Family, Discovering Myself

by Jill Biden

Hardcover, 2019

Status

Available

Publication

Flatiron Books (2019), 224 pages

Description

"'How did you get this number?' Those were the first words Jill Biden spoke to U.S. senator Joe Biden when he called her out of the blue to ask her on a date. Growing up, Jill had wanted two things: a marriage like her parents'--strong, loving, and full of laughter--and a career. An early heartbreak had left her uncertain about love, until she met Joe. But as they grew closer, Jill faced difficult questions: How would politics shape her family and professional life? And was she ready to become a mother to Joe's two young sons? She soon found herself falling in love with her three "boys," learning to balance life as a mother, wife, educator, and political spouse. Through the challenges of public scrutiny, complicated family dynamics, and personal losses, she grew alongside her family, and she extended the family circle at every turn: with her students, military families, friends and staff at the White House, and more. This is the story of how Jill built a family--and a life--of her own. From the pranks she played to keep everyone laughing to the traditions she formed that would carry them through tragedy, hers is the spirited journey of a woman embracing many roles. Where the Light Enters is a candid, heartwarming glimpse into the creation of a beloved American family, and the life of a woman at its center"--… (more)

Rating

½ (23 ratings; 3.9)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Susan.Macura
In this year of multiple candidates for president in the 2020 election I believe it is important to know as much as one can about the candidates, especially since the election of Trump. One way to discover who a person is can be found through the eyes of those around him. In this book we meet
Show More
former second lady Jill Biden, learn of her life and her relationship with candidate Joe Biden. It was an interesting tale of a couple who have dealt with much adversity together, each always supporting the other. It appears that each supports the other, Jill by campaigning for her husband, he by supporting her need to teach even while they were part of the White House. I found myself liking Joe Biden more because of this book, which I assume was one of the purposes for releasing it now.
Show Less
LibraryThing member sallylou61
Where the Light Enters is a memoir in which Ms. Biden emphasizes the importance of family. She relates the family traditions which she had growing up and those of the family she married into and the ones she and Joe and their children established, and then shared with their grandchildren. Her
Show More
extended family plays an important part in her life. The book also deals with a number of losses, particularly by death. Jill married the widower Joe Biden who had lost his first wife and daughter in an auto accident; he wanted to remarry partly so that his sons would have a mother. Ms. Biden mentions losing other family members and friends. The book ends with the brain cancer death of Beau Biden, their oldest son. (Although Ms. Biden was not the birth mother of Joe's two sons, the family never used the word "step."). Ms. Biden also describes how she dealt with having a family and also a career, and then being second lady but continuing to teach full-time at a community college. The book goes back and forth in time rather than being in chronological order. Moreover, it is noncritical description of the family's life.
Show Less

Language

Original language

English

Physical description

224 p.; 8.58 inches

ISBN

1250182328 / 9781250182326
Page: 0.5027 seconds