American Wife: A Novel
by Curtis Sittenfeld
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Book Summary Information
Author: Curtis SittenfeldEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-09-02
ISBN: 1400064759
Number of pages: 576
Publisher: Random House
Book Reviews of American Wife: A Novel
Book Review: A woman's tale
Summary: 3 Stars
This is the story of a woman, who by circumstance ends up in the White House as First Lady. The bulk of the story traces the life of Alice, as a child through to married woman in great detail and I found that a very interesting read. So much coverage of the early days, yet the transition to First Lady was covered in a couple of lines, which was very surprising as the author had provided so much detail to other (less relevant) events.
Only near the end, did the parallels between Laura Bush and the character become glaringly clear for me (not being American, maybe the early years of Bush did not really register as being based on a actual President). I liked the story more, when there was not such an obvious link to a real President and events - I prefer to get those stories from biographies if I want to read about such matters - I preferred the story when it was more fictionalised.
This is a good book though, and whilst others might view it from a more political viewpoint, I saw it as an interesting story of a certain woman named Alice.
Summary of American Wife: A Novel
On what might become one of the most significant days in her husband's presidency, Alice Blackwell considers the strange and unlikely path that has led her to the White House-and the repercussions of a life lived, as she puts it, "almost in opposition to itself."A kind, bookish only child born in the 1940s, Alice learned the virtues of politeness early on from her stolid parents and small Wisconsin hometown. But a tragic accident when she was seventeen shattered her identity and made her understand the fragility of life and the tenuousness of luck. So more than a decade later, when she met boisterous, charismatic Charlie Blackwell, she hardly gave him a second look: She was serious and thoughtful, and he would rather crack a joke than offer a real insight; he was the wealthy son of a bastion family of the Republican party, and she was a school librarian and registered Democrat. Comfortable in her quiet and unassuming life, she felt inured to his charms. And then, much to her surprise, Alice fell for Charlie.
As Alice learns to make her way amid the clannish energy and smug confidence of the Blackwell family, navigating the strange rituals of their country club and summer estate, she remains uneasy with her newfound good fortune. And when Charlie eventually becomes President, Alice is thrust into a position she did not seek-one of power and influence, privilege and responsibility. As Charlie's tumultuous and controversial second term in the White House wears on, Alice must face contradictions years in the making: How can she both love and fundamentally disagree with her husband? How complicit has she been in the trajectory of her own life? What should she do when her private beliefs run against her public persona?
In Alice Blackwell, New York Times bestselling author Curtis Sittenfeld has created her most dynamic and complex heroine yet. American Wife is a gorgeously written novel that weaves class, wealth, race, and the exigencies of fate into a brilliant tapestry-a novel in which the unexpected becomes inevitable, and the pleasures and pain of intimacy and love are laid bare.
Praise for American Wife
"Curtis Sittenfeld is an amazing writer, and American Wife is a brave and moving novel about the intersection of private and public life in America. Ambitious and humble at the same time, Sittenfeld refuses to trivialize or simplify people, whether real or imagined."
-Richard Russo
"What a remarkable (and brave) thing: a compassionate, illuminating, and beautifully rendered portrait of a fictional Republican first lady with a life and husband very much like our actual Republican first lady's. Curtis Sittenfeld has written a novel as impressive as it is improbable."
-Kurt Andersen
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