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Harper Canada The candid and intimate memoir from Canadas former first lady, Margaret Trudeau The most anticipated memoir from Canada’s former first lady, Margaret Trudeau. In Changing My Mind, a candid and intimate memoir and her first book in more than 30 years, Trudeau tells the story of her life as both a public figure and a private citizen, and her lifelong struggle with bi-polar disorder. In a love story that shocked the world, Margaret Trudeau became the youngest First Lady when at age 22 she married Pierre Trudeau, a man almost thirty years her senior and the 15th Prime Minister of Canada. Stunningly beautiful, Margaret immediately became the focus of attention in any room she entered. In her first book in almost thirty years, Margaret looks back on a controversial life and examines the consequences of her lifelong struggle with mental illness. From flower child to self-described “hippie mother,” unpredictable Margaret Trudeau became synonymous with scandal and intrigue internationally. She was criticized for wearing an inappropriately short dress to an official White House Dinner. She acted as Fidel Castro’s photographer for a day. She burst into song at a state dinner for the President of Venezuela. And rather than celebrate her sixth wedding anniversary with her husband, she spent a legendary weekend with the Rolling Stones, leading to worldwide rumours of trysts with Mick Jagger and Ron Wood. But happiness was short-lived for Margaret, who suffered a series of tragic losses: divorce from Pierre Trudeau; the death of her youngest son in a skiing accident; and divorce from her second husband, real estate mogul Fried Kemper. Margaret spiraled through suicidal depression and undiagnosed mania. She self-medicated with marijuana and alcohol, starved herself, and engaged in manic spending sprees that left her penniless until she was finally diagnosed and treated for bipolar disorder. Under intense international scrutiny, Margaret Trudeau has lived a life full of highs and lows, but has worked to regain control of her life. In this poignant memoir, Margaret Trudeau reveals her courageous lifetime struggle with mental illness and her journey of recovery, acceptance, and hope.

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9780062064875

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Margaret Trudeau was the First Lady to Pierre Trudeau, the 15th Prime Minister of Canada with whom she had three children. Later in life, she remarried and had two children with real estate mogul Fred Kemper. She is the author of two previous memoirs, Beyond Reason (1979) and Consequences (1982). She is a spokesperson for avalanche safety and the Honorary President of WaterCan, an international organization that helps the world’s poorest people gain access to clean water. She sits on the executive Advisory Board of the UBC Mental Health Institute and has been awarded the Society of Biological Psychiatry Humanitarian Award. She is a national mental health advocate who challenges the stigma around mental illness and speaks across the country.

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