Controversial, unauthorised biography of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy hits the shelves in Paris

Billed by its publishers as the unauthorised biography of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the book paints a picture of a possessive, intense and jealous woman who is desperate to forge close links with Michelle and Barak Obama and who is a bit resentful that she can't quite make it to that.

Based on more than 100 interviews carried out by journalist Besma Lahouri, 'Carla: Une Vie Secrete' (Carla: A Secret Life) paints a portrait of a woman obsessed with herself and passionately in love with her current husband -- as much as she loved her previous partners.

"It's really easy get hold of confidences on Carla Bruni. She talks all the time. She adores confiding herself, including to Michelle Obama and that's what I explain in the book. It really shocked the Obama couple and it created a lot of distance with her," Lahouri said.

Bruni-Sarkozy, famous for her success as a supermodel and a string of rock-star boyfriends, married Sarkozy after a whirlwind romance in 2008 only months after he won the presidency and a very short while after he divorced his previous wife.

The book says that Bruni-Sarkozy invited three former boyfriends to her mansion in the South of France last year during the presidential couple's first summer vacation.

"She's a completely self-centred woman who doesn't manage to interest herself in things that don't directly affect her. She's a very sensitive woman. She's a woman who is always in love, because she is genuinely in love with the president. But she genuinely loved her former lovers and she told everybody in interviews that it was for life. She's sincere and loyal to herself," Lahour claimed.

But, despite the hype, some critics say there's not much new in the book and that it merely brings together elements that were already largely known.

"It was billed as the book that would make Carla Bruni tremble. But I doubt she'll be trembling too much, as everything that was in the book was already well published in the press and was pretty public," said Luc Angevert, who reviewed the book for Closer, a well-known French celebrity magazine.

He added: "What it explains about the presidential couple is that -- or at least what I found new -- is this jealousy, a bit envious about the Obama couple, that they would really have liked to be friends with the Obamas and that Carla Bruni particularly would like to be as popular as Michelle Obama."

Meanwhile, Bruni-Sarkozy is set to make her cinema debut in Woody Allen's film, 'Midnight in Paris', scheduled for release next year.