Madam Speaker

Nancy Pelosi didn't run for political office until she was 47 years old and her youngest child was a senior in high school. Today, as the first female Speaker of the House, Pelosi is one of the most influential voices in the nation's capital and, having successfully juggled family life and a high-pressured career, a role model for young women. Her first biography, by an esteemed journalist and political analyst who has covered her for years, is an inside look at this intriguing political figure and her surprising climb to power. The book comes at a time when-with Hillary Clinton's run for the presidency and Pelosi's ascension to Speaker-the spotlight is on American political women as never before. The pages of Madame Speaker are filled with surprising facts and untold anecdotes about Pelosi's upbringing, family life, and political pedigree (we learn, for instance, that when she was growing up, her father, who spent five terms in Congress, stored hundreds of copies of the Congressional Record under her bed). The result is an insightful, richly nuanced portrait of a frequently misunderstood national figure, based on hundreds of interviews with the Speaker herself, as well as family, friends, and colleagues-all interpreted by one of the most respected journalists on the Washington scene.Sandalow, Marc is the author of 'Madam Speaker', published 2008 under ISBN 9781594868078 and ISBN 1594868077.