In 1966, Imelda Marcos was "rich, young, and beautiful, an Asian Jacqueline Kennedy." Years later, Benigno Aquino would call her "another Evita Peron," referring to her ruthless ambition and seemingly insatiable desire for wealth and power. By 1986, she was in exile in Hawaii, having been driven from the country she and her husband had led for over twenty years.In Imelda Marcos, Filipino journalist Carmen Navarro Pedrosa tells the full story of Imelda's life: her tragically poor childhood and her subsequent drive to succeed socially, financially, and politically.
A naïve young woman from the provinces, Imelda garnered attention in 1953 as the winner of the Miss Manila contest and caught the eye of a rising young congressman, Ferdinand E. Marcos. After a courtship of eleven days, they were married. Under Ferdinand's stern tutelage, Imelda would emerge as his most important political asset and, later, as one of the wealthiest, most powerful women in the world.
Based on years of research and in-depth interviews with both friends and foes of the Marcoses, this biography traces Imelda's life from her poverty-stricken origins to her present state of exile, providing insight not only into her character but also into the demise of the Marcos regime and the current turbulent political situation in the Philippines.
