American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld is book 11 for the year. You may know Sittenfeld from her novel Prep, set in a boarding school (loved it!). American Wife is the fictional story of Alice Blackwell, a librarian who falls in love with a rapscallion with a storied family, a not-so-smart goof who drinks too much and ultimately ends up buying a baseball team - and who then becomes President of the United States. Sound familiar? Sittenfeld obviously based her protagonist on Laura Bush - but it's all fiction. But not. There are many aspects of Alice Blackwell that are ripped from Laura Bush's life, but she remains a fictional heroine, and certainly there are things that Alice says and does that we'll never know if Laura said or did...This book is OUTSTANDING. I loved it and can't wait to a) loan it to all my friends and b) re-read it when this year-long project is over. There were lots of twists and turns, but encompassed in an incredibly familiar story - familiar because it's based in truth, in a woman that was part of our lives for over eight years. Now that George Bush is out of office, I wonder if Laura will come forward and speak about her life - now that I've read this book, I'd like to hear more about the real Alice Blackwell.
American Wife - A+
2 comments:
bring a bag this weekend to collect some of my books...I am thinning out my bookshelves...
That one sounds interesting - I'd love to borrow it when you have a chance. Also remember to pilfer my bookshelves when you come next week.
Very interesting ultra-close up. :)
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