American Wife (2009)

A real potboiler of a novel. Loosely based on the life of Laura Bush, wife of President George W. But it is compulsive reading. Towards the end, the character reveals that she did not vote for her husband for President! ( )

Really liked this book at first, but it was just so long. By the end, I was skimming it. It did get me curious about Laura Busg and I probably will seek out a biography of her. ( )

Loved it. ( )

abandoned this about halfway through. drawn in by controversy surrounding novel when it was first released. needed lighter, more imaginative touch rather than a semi-literal reading of the sort-of-ostensible subject of the novel. ( )

This is one of the most thought-provoking and absorbing books I have read in a while. (I'm pretty sure I thought about it in my sleep.) First, there's the fact that it's loosely based on the life of Laura Bush; second, there's the fact that Curtis Sittenfeld has a staggering talent for making characters absolutely real (even when they aren't real already; see PREP).

Sittenfeld gives so much insight into Alice Blackwell, and when you, as the reader, understand in such a close and detailed way what "Alice" is thinking and how she is feeling, it's nearly impossible not to be as sympathetic as the author. It's really, truly, mind-opening (thinking, of course, of Laura Bush). The book is set around four distinct phases in Alice's life; it skips over the time when Charlie Blackwell is governor, before he becomes president. I would have gladly read another 100 or 200 pages describing this period - and, except for cases where I feel the end has been rushed, I rarely feel that books should be longer than they are. ( )