Janny Scott Libri

The New York Times bestseller-an unprecedented look into the life and character of the woman who raised a president. Barack Obama has written extensively about his father but credited his mother for "what is best in me." Still, little is known about this fiercely independent, spirited woman who raised the man who became the first biracial president of the United States. This book is that story. In A Singular Woman, award-winning New York Times reporter Janny Scott tells the story of this unique woman, Stanley Ann Dunham, who broke many of the rules of her time, and shows how her fierce example helped influence the future president-and can serve as an inspiration to us all.

Traces how the eight-hundred-acre Philadelphia estate of the author's investment banker great-grandfather shaped choices that impacted generations of her family, particularly her father, and reflected the encroaching economic inequalities of the modern era