Normally I don't think I would like a book about Laura Bush - even one that is fiction, but it was fascinating to take a peek into this made up world. There were some basis for facts and then the story around those, which made it like historical fiction and a fun read.

The most interesting reaction I had was how little we really know the President, his wife, or any celebrity. We only know what reporters show or tell us and that might not be factual. In addition, we only know what their managers/pr person/spin doctor wants us to know. That said, it made me think about how quickly we are to judge them and we really don't even know them.

Makes me want to do a stop and think before lashing out about some of the stupid antics of celebrities - political or otherwise. ( )

With 98 reviews so far of this book on LibraryThing, I'm not sure another is needed. But I'm not sure I saw anyone saying the things that most affected me in the book. First of all, wonderfully written! Much more than chick lit or even the typical best seller list novel. It is a portrait, maybe, of Laura Bush but it is a novel about a particular marriage...a marriage in which the lifestyle and choices are almost all those of the husband's because of his background, status, and ambitions. Yet the wife is a very real person, with a strong sense of compassion, duty, justice, and guilt -- and a person who needs to have some fun in her life! I truly identified with Alice Blackwell's feelings of guilt, tempered by intelligence and willingness to be forgiving and accepting of others. I think this the moving force behind the actions and feelings of many so-called liberals. And I see what appears to be the moral insensitivity of many rich and privileged people like Charlie Blackwell, Ellie the daughter, and mostly his whole clan. I can also identify with the experience of "marrying up" financially and socially. My own family had no money at all, and it was a marvel to me to marry into a family of comfortable means for that time and place (something like Alice's folks, actually), and then to have some in the next generation marry into very wealthy families. Like Alice, I find it amazing, and very hard to feel comfortably part of that milieu. I, too, have been a teacher and librarian (and newspaper reporter and writer and missionary and pastor's wife) and all of those are demanding jobs with tremendously rewarding payoffs in the feeling of satisfaction in being of service to others and making a difference. You can see why I found this novel about Alice/Laura expressing some of my own feelings and experiences over many decades now. Hurrah for and thans to Curtis Sittenfeld for doing a fabulous job on this book. I'd love to know if Laura Bush has read it and what she thought! And I hope to get to a reading group discussion on it. Now I'm off to read a biography of Laura Bush, The Perfect Wife. ( )

I loved this not-so-subtle fictionalization of Laura Bush's life. This book is very sympathetic to the First Lady and her road to the White House, and shows the President in the light of someone who loves him even while she sees his flaws more clearly than anyone else. I found the first part of the book heart-wrenching. I recommend it to liberals and conservatives alike. ( )

When liberal minded librarian Alice Lindgren meets and marries political legacy Charlie Blackwell, neither she nor anyone else quite understands why her marriage works - all the way to the White House. This fictionalised portrayal of Laura Bush is incredibly sympathetic but never tips into syrupy or over the top. ( )

I picked this up after having seen it as an Early Review book a couple of months ago, and I am incredibly glad that I did. This is a quick read, not because it is short in length (it isn't), but because the story flows very well. It is an engaging story, and I found it interesting to look up little tidbits and facts from the story and compare them to that of Laura Bush's life. Obviously this is primarily fiction (I'd have a hard time believing that it were only the names that were changed, especially considering the depth of detail that is written), but the similarities drawn between the Blackwell family and the Bush family are unmistakable. The style is engaging and the characters are interesting - inherently flawed, but not unlikeable, even some of the most unpleasant of them. I really enjoyed it from start to finish. ( )