Review: American Wife

It has been a long time since anyone besides Janet Evanovich has gotten me so involved in a book that I couldn’t put it down.  Curtis Sittenfeld now holds that honor with the book, American Wife.  I bought this book on a whim.  I wasn’t sure I was even interested in it, but I was wanting something to review for everyone that wasn’t a typical read for me.  I had never heard of Sittenfeld, the cover looked a little too “romancy” for me, but after looking at the summary and realizing it was loosely (very loosely) based on the life of Laura Bush who I have a great respect for, I went ahead and threw it in the cart.

I’m not sure why, but for some reason, I didn’t put it in the “to read” stack at home, but instead picked it up the very next morning and started reading it on the way to one of my daughter’s ballgames (obviously I wasn’t driving).  During the thirty minute drive to the ballpark, I became engrossed – yes, I was that involved that quickly.  I felt horrible that I wanted to take the book into the park (no, I didn’t do it..I just wanted to).  As soon as we were back in the car, I had picked it back up. We went out to eat after the game, and I once again had to resist taking the book into the restaurant.  I couldn’t believe how excited I was to be home just so I could curl up in the bed and continue this book.  I stayed up that night until almost 3.  I wanted to finish it that bad, but finally had to cave in and sleep.  As soon as I was up the next morning, it was back to reading.  I simply had to know what happened next…how it ended.  The real world interfered some, but ultimately I did finish it that second day, and I immediately was sharing it with people that I saw that day.  I told everyone they should read this book.

As I mentioned, Amercian Wife is loosely based on the life of Laura and President Bush; however, it is fiction and the characters have different names (Alice and Charlie), but it doesn’t take the reader long to figure out who the main characters reflect in “real life.”  It starts in the present day, but it quickly flashes back to Alice’s childhood. The reader then follows Alice through the highlights of her life from 3rd grade to the present.

Have you ever wondered about the thinkings of a First Lady?  How she feels about her life in the public eye?  While we may never know closely the thoughts of Alice reflect those of former First Lady, Laura, the book is written in a manner that is completely believable. We travel through Alice’s life, we feel her pain, we are happy when she’s happy..

I won’t provide you with many details as I recommend you read this book, and I don’t want to give away too many spoilers, but from her chilhood in the 40s in a small town in Wisconsin to her life in 2000 in the White House, you will follow Alice through her family relationship with her parents and grandmother.  You will see her deal personally with homosexuality, tragedy, abortion, loneliness, and family death.  You’ll see her struggle when she meets and falls for wealthy Charlie of fitting in with his upperclass family and way of life.  And then the struggles of dealing with an immature husband who turns to alcohol and who looks at the world in such a different manner than she does.

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld – TWO THUMBS UP!

Books About Laura Bush I Will Be Buying and Reviewing After Reading American Wife:

• The Perfect Wife: The Life and Choices of Laura Bush
• Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady