Jacinda Ardern

by Michelle Duff

"Sincere, intent, focused and always readable. [This] book gets to a truth and an understanding." —Steve Braunias, Newsroom

Michelle Duff delves into Ardern's beginnings in small-town New Zealand, discovering a nose-ringed teen fighting for equality and her own identity in a devout Mormon family.

Duff tracks Ardern's political career, from being dismissed as a "show pony" to her compassion during one of New Zealand's biggest tragedies, the Christchurch mosque terror attack of 2019. In its aftermath, Ardern has become a global icon for her strength and decisiveness while uniting a country in shock and mourning.

Ardern attracted international headlines for being the second world leader to give birth while in office. But why was having a baby so meaningful, and what does it say about the continued struggle for gender equality?

Has Ardern really been a transcendent leader, and what enduring mark might she leave on the political landscape?

This is an engrossing and powerful exploration of one of the most intriguing political stories of our time—telling us as much about one young woman's ascendancy as it does about the country that elected her.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Politics, Memoir, Womens

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Michelle Duff is a journalist and writer from Te Whanganui-a-Tara. (Wellington) She was the winner of the 2023 Fiction Prize from the International Institute of Modern Letters. Her journalism has appeared in Aotearoa and internationally, including in the Guardian, Stuff, New Zealand Geographic, the Melbourne Age and the Sunday Times.

Reviews

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to read a book about Jacinda Arden - instead I read about the author's view on all sorts of things some that don't even concern Arden - snippets of the author's life that are all fine and good, even funny at times, but not what I wanted the book to be about.
I learnt a lot about Arden, so I suppose the book fulfilled that requirement, but I didn't get a sense of really getting to know her at all. There is so much in this book that is poignant about society, gender inequity and although Ardern stands for improving such societal issues, it seemed too general and the author was clutching at straws to make a decent sized book.
I wonder if the author's agenda was to publish a book on the popular coat-tails of one of the most talked about and popular contemporary leaders? I felt that undertone strongly.

[Jane · Rating 1 out of 5]

I support Jacinda Ardern, but this book is hardly 'the story'.... It reads as if it's a profile of a leader written by a 13 year old super-fan. According to this book, Jacinda is flawless in every capacity. All criticism leveled at her has been wrong. Clarke is boyishly charming. Jacinda is a leader he can all relate to due to her messy car. She maneuvers every situation perfectly. She approaches all difficult topics with a knack for knowing the exact right thing to say. She is cool.
Looking forward to a biography with some actual info in the future.

[TryHardTracey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't wait to put this book down.

A boring recitation of hearsay. I don't think the author has anything original to say. Its all just quotes from people who once knew JA and other things already publically reported. These dull reflections are followed by the authors opinion on such e.g. supporting breastfeeding is not a good idea because it makes people who don't breastfeed feel bad.

Even more annoying is that every page or two, there's a passage in larger, bolder font that is then repeated in normal font in the next paragraph. I can only assume the idea is to make the book have more pages.

Glad I didn't pay for this book.

[M · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wanted to read about Jacinda not the author, but it seemed the author focused too much on herself and very little on Jacinda. It was clear she wrote this without having any exclusive access and just based on the author’s opinions of what Jacinda might be thinking or doing. One of the worst biographies I’ve ever read.

[Danielle Julian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read. Not so much a story of her life chronologically but a series of essays on themes that have become an important part of conversation in the public sphere and Ardern’s reaction to them. I am looking forward to seeing how Chapman’s biography will differ.

[P · Rating 3 out of 5]

10% Jacinda Ardern, 10% rambling, 80% biography of the author. I learnt a little.

[Joel Wakefield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading less as a biography and more a set of personal essays, this look at the young and inspiring Prime Minister of New Zealand takes events and moments from her life to examine key issues facing women, parents, people of color, and New Zealanders in general. But whether you fall into any of these categories or not, Ms. Ardern's life and “relentlessly positive” campaign and governing vision can't help but impress and inspire anyone who reads about her. Each chapter leads the reader to a better understanding of the issues raised, while also sharing valuable insight into the history and culture of New Zealand. As a result, I am better of for having read it.

I will say that I wanted to know more about her childhood (given only a few pages), as well as her teenage years (largely limited to just a list of the things she did in school government) and how that influenced her views on life. It appears the book was written without the benefit of direct interviews with Ms. Ardern, her partner, or family, which certainly changes the nature of a biography. As an example of an aspect of her life that would have benefited from getting her specific input, her Mormon upbringing is mentioned, but the entire discussion is limited to 2 or 3 quotes from past interviews. It would have been very interesting to hear her current thoughts regarding how that part influenced her current vision, as well a look at her decision to leave the practice of Mormonism and how this affected her relationship with her parents, etc.

[John Puzey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Those looking for a detailed biography of Jacinda Ardern will be sorely disappointed (as we all were) if they buy this book. The author has chosen to express her own views on life, and tried to weave those into Ardern's, on the odd occasion they come close. Jacinda appears to be an extraordinary women (although she wouldn't say so) so its a shame that a chance to detail her own thoughts and achievements so far, has been missed. Personally, I think it is disgraceful that her image and name have been used to push Michelle Duff's personal agenda, but then if she hadn't, I suppose, very few people would have bought the book.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Things I have learned in the first 46 pages of this book:


1. The definition of the phrase 'flashbulb memory'. (Not sure why.)

2. What the author thinks of breastfeeding.

3. What colour uniform skirt the author wore in high school.

4. That the author has plenty of older Pakeha men in her life that she loves, including her obviously great dad & uncle.

All very interesting, but I'm probably going to skim quickly from here.

[Max Arshavsky · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trash. Vastly about Michelle Duff and her weak reasoning.

[Caity · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not marketed correctly, this is not about Arden’s story and life, it is more about equality, women’s rights and motherhood. I enjoyed the book but felt let down in that I learnt nothing new about Arden’s leadership and time in politics or before Parliament. That was bitterly disappointing. It felt like the author used Arden to just voice her opinions. This book would have been way better if it just removed Arden all together and was just a feminist novel. I wanted to learn about Arden and I got nothing. Disappointing.

[Pauline Pickles · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a biography which is what I really wanted I didn’t get to know Jacinda and her personal story so if that’s what your looking for this is not it. Although it was an informative read it was more about the authors thoughts, opinions and life experiences. Covers a lot of subjects but not from Jacinda’s point of view as it’s mostly from information you could research yourself online. Just not what I was wanting from this read and didn’t peak my interest. ☹️

[G N · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't recommend this book at all. Author hijacks the book to push her social and political views. Pages and pages of stuff not even relevant to Jacinda but all about the personal life of the author.
Bored by most it and the out of date agenda and generalisations

[Zohal · Rating 2 out of 5]

That was not a biography.

[Debrina Altered · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a lemon. There is no use of primary source material that I could tell, anywhere. Just a clumsy cobbling together of second hand anecdotes, and few facts. When you compare this book with any of the books written by the king of NZ biographies, Michael King, this book doesn’t even sit in the same league. In fact, this book is not even a biography; it’s an autobiography of the author. There are no apples to even compare with oranges here; just a lemon.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had very different expectations from this book. I wanted to read about the behind-the-scenes political process, negotiations, compromises, successes, and failures of the female PM. Instead, I read a feminist manifesto with the word "feminism" plastered across the book (and on one occasion 6 times on 1 page, I counted). By the end, it was almost impossible to digest another mentioning of gender equality, inclusiveness, sexual harassment, or welfare issues for breastfeeding mothers from minority groups. This book continuously ticked all the liberal boxes, but it was definitely not why I picked it up from the library shelves. Surely, this woman deserved a more balanced picture of her accomplishments.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learning about where Jacinda came from, and what an amazing person she is was amazing to read. I docked a couple stars because there were times the author talked about themselves which took away from the reading experience, and strayed away from the point. Also a bit repetitive in the second half. I didn’t learn as much about Jacinda as I would have liked to, and I think if the author had been able to talk to Jacinda directly the reader would have gotten more out of it.

I’m definitely glad I read it, and would love to reread it to annotate which I hardly ever want to do. There’s a big focus on her response to the Christchurch attack which was incredible. The biography was balanced out with criticisms as well as praise for Jacinda, but honestly, what a woman 🙌🏼

[Andrew Ritchie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read many books I didn't like but always try to respect the work and effort that an author has put into their writing.

For this trash I will make an exception.

This is not a biography of Jacinda Ardern and to use her name as the title and her picture on the cover is simply a dishonest attempt to sell copies.

This is a book about Michelle Duff's views on feminism, gender, equality and other topical social issues that uses Ardern as a vehicle for expressing those opinions.

The closest direct source to Ardern is an interview with her high school principle. Other sources are simply internet searches and magazine articles, hence the lack of need for a bibliography. Even all the photos are Getty images. There has been no access to anyone remotely close to Ardern in any way. There is nothing to learn about Ardern here.

The writing isn't even good, it reads like a school project fan piece, one I'd fail at that.

What is it with shortening Beyoncé to Bey as though they are friends?Are you thirteen?

The editing is odd too. Every few pages there is a large bold font paragraph that is just a repetition of a few lines already in the text on the same page.

I haven't hated a book this much since I read The Wind In The Willows in 1984.

This is simply the worst book I have ever read.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

While I thought this book was interesting in some respects, I just found that this was just Duff writing about how much she loves Ardern, rather than how she got to where she is today. I wish there was more into Ardern’s childhood, upbringing and rise throughout politics, instead of focusing on 3 main points in Ardern’s life: the election, her pregnancy and the Christchurch attacks (events that have already been heavily reported). This would probably be a good read for someone who has never heard of Jacinda Ardern, but I would look for a different biography if you know anything about her. 2/5

[Celeste · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great feminist read that uses Jacinda as a guide to discuss contemporary feminist issues in a candid but motivating way, while concurrently exploring the career to date of Ardern through a balanced lens.

[Daniella Hoy · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting read but felt like a summary of the book I wanted to read with too many personal anecdotes about the author.

[Jessie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't finish. I adore Jacinda, and was excited to learn more about her. However this book is hijacked by the author's thoughts and experiences constantly... Made it very irritating to read.

[Avalon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the authors viewpoint on several issues some of which are totally unrelated to Jacinda Ardern. I was wanting to read about Jacindas life so quite disappointed. Wouldn't recommend

[Xanthe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wished that she was my prime minister,, like so bad. She seems like the type of person I would love to hang with regardless.

[Bree T · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this was a very disappointing read.

I had been looking forward to this. I admire Jacinda Ardern hugely and she seems like she’s really used her leadership in a very different way to many other heads of state. Her compassion and grief after the New Zealand Christchurch shooting is something I think I will always remember. We are about the same age (less than 2 years between us) and I think I align a lot with her, politically.

But to be honest, I’d have gained more knowledge and insight about Ardern by reading her Wikipedia page. This, despite claiming to be a biography for me, isn’t one at all. I wanted to read a book about Jacinda Ardern – her roots, her childhood, her rise through politics. However what it feels like I read is a bunch of chapters on what the author thinks about Jacinda Ardern, about politics, about herself and her life. It was more about Michelle Duff, than it was about Jacinda Ardern.

Everything about Ardern, the author relates back to herself. Perhaps there are a lot of people out there who admire Michelle Duff’s work as a journalist and want to read more about her. I didn’t know her before this book, but I wanted to read the book because of the big picture of Jacinda Ardern on the cover and the fact that it was called Jacinda Ardern. I wasn’t at all interested in the author’s life growing up, how she differed or shared similarities with Ardern, how she knew Ardern’s cousin, how Ardern had a baby and Duff had a baby too.

Jacinda Ardern is a really interesting person and when she announced her pregnancy shortly after taking office, it was immediately obvious how differently women are still treated from men regarding having a career vs having a family. She was just the second female leader in the world to give birth whilst in office, after Benazir Bhutto. Even before announcing her pregnancy, she was asked in interviews whether or not she planned to have children, with one radio announcer even declaring that it was ‘the public’s right to know’. And look, there is some good stuff in here about feminism and the workplace and women’s roles and how things are still looked at differently in terms of women having babies in politics vs men. And I liked reading that but then just as quick it was over and we were back onto how the author’s cousin had X experience or Jacinda hadn’t been spotted breastfeeding in public and the author had felt self-conscious about that too.

I understand that we want to identify with people and especially people we admire. I like to identify with people too and I could list half a dozen things I have in common with Jacinda Ardern. But that doesn’t make for good reading and people reading it wouldn’t be interested in the ways in which Jacinda and I are the same or the ways in which we are different. And I felt that way, reading this book. It’s pretty obvious that this is cobbled together from bios already published on Ardern (probably such as her Wikipedia page!) or interviews she’s done at times during her career and just general information/speeches she’s given on her policies, beliefs and goals as a political leader. It provides little insight into her as a person and zero insight into her actual life. It is at times, gushingly over the top (and this is coming from someone who respects and admires Ardern a lot).

If I added up all the relevant information on Ardern here it’d probably only fill a few chapters. Stripping out the rest, which is basically anecdotes from the author about herself or someone she is friends with or related to, would honestly leave very little material. I was going to use this book towards several of the reading challenges I am doing for this year but having completed it, I’ve now decided against that because honestly, for me, this doesn’t fit the bill. I was going to use it for biography and it just….isn’t. It’s a bunch of thoughts and opinions relating to or about Jacinda Ardern and occasionally drifting into broader territory on issues such as feminism and race. Some of those issues are well covered but for me, I found this a disappointing and mediocre read that I could not recommend to anyone.

[Sare W · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a bestselling biography of New Zealand's Prime Minister. It's more than Jacinda's story though, it delves into politics, social issues, leadership, sexism, representation, some economics and a bit about the NZ electoral system.

The author provides background about Jacinda's origins and schooling, but devotes most of the book to her career and contextualising it. Ardern was first elected to the NZ House of Reps in 2008, but it was in 2017 that she became leader of the Labour party just seven weeks before the election. The party gained seats, formed a minority coalition government and Ardern became the world's youngest female head of government (at 37).

Duff recounts and reflects on Ardern's approaches... To the election campaign, it was an approach of relentless positivity. To her pregnancy (while PM), it was an approach of normalising what is natural. In the aftermath of the Christchurch attack, it was an approach to unify the community. She displayed strength through empathy and taking quick decisive action domestically followed by rallying international allies to push for change from social media platforms. Other iconic moments are also discussed, particularly some of Ardern's interactions with and representation of Maori people.

This is an insightful book. Academic research is woven into it, and social policies are respectfully discussed (including some that failed), without it being dry. I learned a lot and recommend it to anyone interested to learn more about our pacific neighbours.

(P.S. The 2020 election saw her party win more seats; they now hold a rare outright parliamentary majority.)

[Jennifer Kruk · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title and framing of the book is misleading, it’s not so much a story of Jacinda Ardern’s life as it is contextualizing the rise of Jacinda to PM as a way to open up discussion around issues (often social or made social because a women is involved) and the way media and people in general talk about them- for better and worse (more often worse, but changing). In between strangely placed personal commentary and unnecessary details, The conversations sparked are eventually on point and can open minds up to question how much influence we take on from what we read in the media or experience as a part of gender roles- and hopefully sparking change to a new normal. I think the book would’ve been more effective if this was in the forefront, even using Jacinda’s story so prominently. It’s clear this was largely an opinion piece (with many solid facts) Of the author on these topics and not a in depth story of Jacinda (which I had set out to read). I read the book after my teen daughter did and I think it’s better suited for her level as an introduction into these topics. The author has a lot to say and should do so directly instead of hiding it behind a title and not meeting basic expectations of the title and description. As a new resident to NZ It did help to give me context to recent events which Is why I continued to read even after the bait and switch- and to be able to talk to my daughter about it. I would not have read all the way through otherwise.

[Danielle Wagstaff · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was disappointing in numerous ways. Firstly, it was written in an overly casual language style that I'm sure the writer thought was funny, but simply evoked eye-rolling. The first couple of chapters had little substance, purportedly being about Jacinda's early days, but actually were just a series of anecdotes about how the author was galivanting around while Jacinda was already doing important work at a young age (I don't know how many times she mentioned that Jacinda had a nose-ring, but it was hardly the point). The remaining chapters somewhat improved, discussing the role of women in politics, and the strides we've made regarding equality yet how far we still have to go, bringing this book up to 2 stars, however, these chapters still weren't without fault. Throughout, the book was difficult to follow as it was lacking a clear and concise narrative. While the author does raise some important points regarding gender politics, none of these haven't been more clearly raised by other people and in a more compelling way. An over-reliance on long, winding quotations demonstrated the author herself had nothing profound to say.
TL;DR. Nothing of substance, nothing you can't find in a good analysis article/blog post. I'll wait for Jacinda's actual memoir.

[Helena · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was less about Jacinda Arden and more a commentary on how Jacinda Arden fits into a political landscape that is somewhat influenced by a landscape on the otherside of the world. I had expected it to be biographical based on the title. As a Canadian reading a book written by a New Zealander, living in New Zealand, about a New Zealand PM, it was fascinating to see how American politics and culture impacts NZ, but it wasn't really about Jacinda. Most of the anecdotes were things commonly found in the media or through her social media pages. The commentary on Trump was interesting, but I would have found it more fascinating to hear how Jacinda reconciled the actions, or if it even came into play. A lot of the story didn't really seem to be about Jacinda Arden but things happening around her while she is in leadership. My guess it this was written by someone who doesn't know Jacinda nor had "exclusive" access to her but instead wrote the biography based on personal opinions and social media.

But it was quite interesting, just vastly different than the title suggests.

[Ray C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this book is well written and interesting, it is not a biography about Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

This book is more about the authors thoughts and reflections about Jacinda Ardern, and covers a wide selection of subject matter, which has nothing to do with her. I presume a lot of the themes and rhetoric may be more interesting to the author than the readers of this book.

Save this for holiday reading and you won’t be disappointed. Read it hoping to find in depth information about Jacinda Ardern and you’ll be left wanting more. There’s little written here that you wouldn’t already know and that hasn’t already been in the New Zealand media.

Doesn’t have a bibliography or reference section at the back, which perhaps shows how much of this book is based on the opinions, thoughts and reflections of the author, rather than any robust interviews or new sources of information.