She has been described as the most controversial Prime Minister's wife to set foot in No 10 Downing Street, but Cherie Blair is finally having the last word on her critics with her memoir Speaking for Myself.

Her book is seasoned with zesty anecdotes that embody her outspokenness and her refusal to conform, amply clear in the first pages of the book.

As she was leaving Downing Street and getting into the car with her husband, Tony Blair, at the end of his tenure, she called out to the press and said: "Bye, I won't miss you." Through clenched teeth, her husband retorted: "For God's sake, you're supposed to be dignified, you're supposed to be gracious."

A working-class girl from Liverpool Ms Blair, through sheer determination and talent, went on to become a leading barrister in public law, human rights, employment and European Community law; all this she juggled with raising four children.

She will be in Malta on Wednesday, as a guest of the Prime Minister's wife Catherine Gonzi, to deliver a keynote speech at a breakfast entitled 'Balancing Family and Career'. After, she will be at the Word for Word bookshop in Castille Place, Valletta, between 11.30 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. to sign her autobiography.