Out of the Blue (book)

Out of the Blue is prefaced with an authors' note, in which Cole and Heale remark that the book's production was rushed. As such, they warn the reader that the book does not match the quality of the work of an author such as Robert Caro, who profiled U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson.[18] The book is split into two parts, with the first detailing Truss's early life and path to the premiership and the second recounting her seven weeks as Prime Minister.[17]

The start of Out of the Blue traces Truss's childhood through her time at university. Her parents were liberal and somewhat unconventional. As a child, Liz's mother, Priscilla, took her to Greenham Common protests. Priscilla would wear a yellow banana costume; the book notes that the costume invited mockery from the younger Truss's peers.[17] The book also highlights her polemical nature early on; Charlotte Ivers of The Times wrote in her review that the book seemingly indicated that Truss's "university and school years primarily consisted of starting fights with anyone and everyone she encountered".[18]

Out of the Blue then recounts Truss's campaign for a seat in the House of Commons, covering the difficulties that arose due to her previously undisclosed affair with Mark Field, a former Tory MP. While the book does note that the affair was much more damaging for Truss than it was for Field, it only cursorily mentions the more lurid allegations made against Truss. After being elected to the Commons in 2010, Truss becomes Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Education under David Cameron. The book talks about her unsuccessful reform proposal that would have decreased the number of adults employed as caretakers.[17]

After her early career, Out of the Blue covers Truss's stint as Foreign Secretary. The book notes her indulgences in the job, asking embassies to provide her with Sauvignon blanc wine, as well as to avoid mass-produced coffee and packaged sandwiches; it describes multiple instances in which Truss forwent sleep in favour of drinking, and then drinking espressos to get through the next day's meetings. The book also portrays her as having a penchant for media exposure over policy meetings, preferring photo ops to trade discussions with diplomats and having civil servants go to lengths to make sure she had good opportunities to post to Instagram.[17][18]

Reception for Out of the Blue was mixed, with reviewers assessing the book as having hasty and provocative prose, but also substantive and informative writing. Ivers wrote for The Times that the book "makes for a fantastic read" but "bears more resemblance to the work of Armando Iannucci" than Robert Caro.[18] Writing for The Guardian, Gaby Hinsliff calls out Out of the Blue's second half as "essentially a Sunday newspaper long read on acid" and says that overall that the prose is "clunky in places", but says that the first half is "very readable".[17]

Despite her criticism of the prose, Hinsliff compliments the substance of the book, continuing that "nobody is going to be buying this book for its literary elegance; the point is to rubberneck at what remains of the crash site".[17] Ivers similarly commented that the book explained why Truss's premiership ended so quickly, writing that "Out of the Blue's strength is in showing the inevitability of its outcome (impressive, considering that most of it was written before said outcome)."[18]

Out of the Blue was named as The Sunday Times political book of the year.[19]