Review #10: American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
Rating this one at 2.5/5, but 3 on Goodreads. Great concept and very thought provoking, but way too long!!!! The bird’s eye view – it is a fictional memoir written from the perspective of Alice Blackwell. Alice Blackwell is based on Laura Bush. Since it wasn’t non-fiction, I do not think that the reader needed very detailed anecdotes. No offense to Alice Blackwell, but I don’t care about her little anecdotes, but if they were true Laura Bush stories, then yes, I want ALL of the details about one of America’s most famous families.
Source: https://curtissittenfeld.com/
A bit deeper… I found myself thinking about being a woman and what that means in context of family, marriage, and society. Alice Blackwell is very much human, imperfect, has secrets, and has opinions of her own. Alice’s character and the story’s touch on American society brings light to truths about our very American culture and the way we are conditioned.
Vibe: Reads like a memoir, but is fiction. Thoughtful, detailed, and tell-all.
Describe the book in three words: Politics, Bush Family, Memoir, LONG (that’s four words, but the book is one million words, so I grant myself an extra word).
Plot: It is literally a 600 page book that takes you from Alice’s childhood through her sixties. There was no detail spared AND the book “skips” over Blackwell/Bush’s governorship. TLDR: Alice Lindgren is a normal, smart child who happens to meet Charlie Blackwell and fall in love. Before Charlie Blackwell becomes the President of the US of A (aka the George W. Bush we know and love), he is a rowdy, entitled, rich guy from Wisconsin (Sittenfeld changed the Bush’s residence from Texas to Wisconsin and their summer retreat from Kennebunkport to Door County). We learn about Alice’s upbringing, values, and culture shock when she marries into a very wealthy family. It is a well written, well told story, but I didn’t need as much of it. The author literally writes out song lyrics (pop songs from the 1970s that play at a reunion…)– I never need that level of detail.
Characters: This one had me googling Barbara Bush, Bush Family Tree, Bush Family Net Worth constantly. The parallels between the characters in the book and the Bush family are so close. For example, Charlie (George) attends Princeton (Yale) undergrad and then goes on to become a part owner in the Brewers (Rangers). It almost makes me wonder how Sittenfeld got away with writing this book. It barely feels like fiction and more like speculative gossip. Alice (Lindgren) Blackwell is a bookish girl who grows up to be a librarian when she meets and gets swept off her feet by Charlie Blackwell (our very own GWB). Alice is very likeable, reasonable, a DEMOCRAT of all things, and a calm foil to Charlie’s gregarious, high energy, stubborn, and brutally Republican-ness.
You’ll like this if you like… George W. Bush, gossip, and politics. If you read Rodham, it is also a fiction book about Hilary Clinton by the same author – she must have a thing for strong female leads. The novel was modeled off of “The Perfect Wife: The Life and Choices of Laura Bush” by Ann Gerhart.
Purchase here: American Wife - Barnes & Noble
