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Product Description
Book Description
A rich, utterly absorbing, powerful story of how an ordinary girl from an unremarkable town grows up to become the first lady of the USA.
Product Description
In the year 2000, in the closest election in American history, Alice Blackwell's husband becomes president of the United States. Their time in the White House proves to be heady, tumultuous, and controversial.
But it is Alice's own story - that of a kind, bookish, only child born in the 1940s Midwest who comes to inhabit a life of dizzying wealth and power - that is itself remarkable. Alice candidly describes her small-town upbringing, and the tragedy that shaped her identity; she recalls her early adulthood as a librarian, and her surprising courtship with the man who swept her off her feet; she tells of the crisis that almost ended their marriage; and she confides the privileges and difficulties of being first lady, a role that is uniquely cloistered and public, secretive and exposed.
In Alice Blackwell, Curtis Sittenfeld has created her most dynamic and complex heroine yet. American Wife is not a novel about politics. It is a gorgeously written novel that weaves race, class, fate and wealth into a brilliant tapestry. It is a novel in which the unexpected becomes inevitable, and the pleasures and pain of intimacy and love are laid bare.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a brilliant novel, spolied as so many reviewers here point out by a lame ending. I first came across Curtis Sittenfeld as the author of 'Prep', a clever, insightful, clearly autobiographical account of a girl's education (her name is Lee) at an American prep school. 'Man of My Dreams', the short novel which followed, is a bit of a disappointment, not because it isn't good, but because it offers very little in the way of an advance on 'Prep' -- basically it is Lee Goes to College. 'American Wife' is Sittenfeld's breakthrough novel, and this is very much the step forward I was hoping for. The autobiographical note has been left behind -- the narrator of 'American Wife' (forget Laura Bush, if you can) is a person in her own right, with experiences and observations that always ring true. Even the passages describing her sex life with Charlie seem right and justifiable, despite the image of 'W' which for some readers will be forever lurking in the undergrowth. The last part of the book, however, is clearly a mistake. Describing life at the White House carries Sittenfeld only too predictably into the territory mapped out by tv shows like 'The West Wing'. It can't be done -- not well, at any rate -- and wasn't in fact necessary. Everything she wanted to say about politics and family and compromise and idealism and money and privilege in American life was there already. It is as if Jane Austen had attempted to write a sequel to P & P in which Darcy became prime minister. You'd read it, but you'd wish she hadn't done it. Read 'American Wife' for the first three-quarters, and forgive the rest. All criticisms aside, I am eagerly awaiting her next book.
30 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As someone with no great interest in American politics I was a little dubious when this book was recommended to me. What a pleasant surprise. I found it utterly compelling and difficult to put down. The politics are the backdrop to what is, in effect, a moving account of an ordinary woman's life, her struggles with issues large and small and the great joy she finds in those aspects of her life that most women will identify with - her family and friends. I don't want to give away the plot, but suffice it to say that it covers family, friendships, love, death, addiction, relationships, career, children, religion, politics and the struggle to find a way to stay true to yourself. I have no idea how factual the book is but to me that doesn't matter. As a story of an ordinary woman it is beautifully written and utterly believable. Highly recommended.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I, too, thoroughly enjoyed this book. I thought it was remarkable how such a young author could do such a fine job of describing (and so sympathetically) the sort of woman with whom she herself is most unlikely to have much in common, either in experience or temperament. (I don't either, which is probably why I found the book such a revelation, explaining so well, as it does, how these women who can button their beaks around - even share a life with - people whose beliefs and actions they disapprove of, actually manage to stay so restrained and still live with themselves.)And the novel is remarkably perceptive about the effects of fame. But, but... Oh, how uneasy I felt reading it. It seemed the worst invasion of a woman's privacy. How Laura Bush must hate the book! I would feel such anger if anyone wrote their own version of my life in this way. But then again, didn't Laura Bush just sit by and watch a lot of infinitely worse things happen? So perhaps we can all just follow her bland, uncommitted example, and enjoy this simply rivetting read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent portrayal of everything female!
This book was fantastic! It was recommended to me by a friend as it is something I would not normally read. Read more
Published 25 days ago by maria93
Compelling at first
I really enjoyed Sittenfeld's novel which is losely inspired by the life of Laura Bush.
It is a great story of life, marriage and relationships. Read more
It is a great story of life, marriage and relationships. Read more
Published 3 months ago by elehn
American Wife
I read a fair few positive reviews of this book around about a year ago and added it to my wishlist. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Lucybird
Book in excellent condition
The book was exactly as described and arrived quickly in perfect condition. The service was excellent overall and was good value for money
Published 4 months ago by I. Brammer
Confident but over-ambitious?
It is hard to approach this novel without a sense of morbid curiosity; it purports to be a thinly veiled retelling of Laura Bush's story and it is natural to read it wondering if... Read more
Published 9 months ago by ian m farrell
Great heroine
'American Wife' by Curtis Sittenfield is the story of the life of a woman called Alice Lindgren, who is a clever and liberal young American who falls in love with a very charming... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Claire Lewis
Can we get an editor here, please?
In most ways, this is a pleasantly written enough book, but desperately in need of pruning. Three pages (possibly more, I started flipping without reading), are devoted to the main... Read more
Published 11 months ago by M. Harding
Very good read
It surprised me how much I enjoyed this one. It isn't without flaws but a very engaging book and a great study in ambiguity. Recommended for a good read.
Published 12 months ago by Miss Smith
Absorbing, enjoyable and insightful
Many other reviewers have commented on the absorbing qualities of Curtis Sittenfeld's American Wife and I agree. Read more
Published 13 months ago by San Diego surfer
Intriguing!
Wow - what an amazing book. I stumbled upon this book, having no idea that it was loosely based on the life of Laura Bush. Read more
Published 15 months ago by P. Burrow
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