Mary L. Trump holds a PhD from the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies and taught graduate courses in trauma, psychopathology, and developmental psychology. She lives with her daughter in New York.
‘Mary draws a portrait of a surreal, scarred clan... But the fact that Donald morphed from huckster to celebrity to president makes her account seminal and indispensable. Mary’s clarity, training, discipline and sharp eye help make her a reliable narrator, and she’s a fluid, witty writer to boot. Everything in her book that I’m familiar with is spot on. There is plenty in the book, however, that I wasn’t aware of, and I suspect that’s the reason the president and his siblings have gone to court to try to halt its publication’ -- Timothy L. O'Brien * Bloomberg * 'Trump claims to be unique, exceptional, a shining self-creation. This book by his estranged niece demolishes that myth. Mary Trump’s ruthless memoir blames their family for creating him: she sees it as her patriotic mission to “take Donald down”, and she does so by showing how derivative and dependent the ultimate self-made man has always been... In a startling final condemnation, she charges that his “craven need for ‘revenge’” on opponents makes him, in his nonchalance about coronavirus in New York, responsible for what she calls “mass murder”' -- Peter Conrad * Guardian * 'Mary Trump’s compelling saga of one very unhappy family does more than just provide probing insights into her uncle’s disturbing inner world. It’s also a first-rate primer on the chaotic inner workings of an administration that has shocked the world by failing to take the basic steps required to keep Americans safe during the coronavirus pandemic' * Boston Globe * 'The most devastating, most valuable and all-around best Trump book since he started running for president. In the vast Trump literature, this one is something new...[W]hat this book does do is help us understand him, offering the most incisive rendering yet of why he is the way he is.' * Politico * 'A delicious tell-all that does in fact tell all in a way one longs for a tell-all to do' * Vogue * 'Dripping with snideness, vibrating with rage, and gleaming with clarity - a deeply satisfying read' * Kirkus (starred review) * 'Mesmerising beach reading and a memorable opposition research dump... It is salacious, venomous and well-sourced... Yet the narrative remains compelling' * Guardian * '[A] deftly written account of cross-generational trauma...Mary Trump brings to this account the insider perspective of a family member, the observational and analytical abilities of a clinical psychologist and the writing talent of a former graduate student in comparative literature' * Washington Post * 'After many, many Trump books, this is an essential one' * Vanity Fair * 'You can see why President Trump doesn’t want anyone to read this thing. It gives the lie to many of his most cherished myths about himself' * Los Angeles Times * 'Mary L. Trump comes closer than anyone to describing the making of a seemingly heartless person who won his way to the White House...[A]n insightful, well-crafted memoir' * CNN *