Author Blanche d'Alpuget spoke of the raw and human face of husband and former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke at a literary lunch held at the Grand View Hotel on December 10.
Launching Bob Hawke The Complete Biography, Ms d'Alpuget described a man with fierce loyalties and a strong sense of competition.
"He wouldn't let people leave until he had won. He was considered a meat grinder of a politician - an extrovert. He and Paul Keating complemented one another and were brothers in arms. They fought side by side," she said.
Ms d'Alpuget described Hawke as both a man's man and a "womaniser" with a great sense of equality for everyone. The book speaks of his legacy, his childhood and those influences and the years since leaving Parliament.
"We had loads of fun," she said.
Ms d'Alpuget was interviewed for the event by Phil Cook of Dymocks, Carindale.
Ms d'Alpuget will release books 4 and 5 of her Plantagenets series in 2020.
