Margaret Thatcher has become a cardboard cut-out hate figure or iconic defender of freedom
depending on your politics. Neither hatchet-jobs nor hagiographies really capture the
significance of her femininity for British politics nor the complexities of the woman behind
the handbag. Tina Gaudoin examines how a lower-middle class girl from Grantham triumphed over
the rampant misogyny and class prejudice of her times and normalised female power. Drawing on
explosive new material from the archives and interviews with her contemporaries it shows how
Thatcher used her feminine mystique personal style and sexuality to become an unlikely
feminist icon. Focussing on Margaret Thatcher as daughter sister wife mother friend mentor
adversary and boss this fresh and intimate portrait of the Iron Lady will fascinate and
provoke whatever your politics.
