Reviews

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

tikkinaylor's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

blanham's review against another edition

4.75

My favourite book I’ve read this year. Gripping, thought-provoking and compelling. I felt Curtis Sittenfeld’s dealt so thoughtfully with the life of Laura Bush, using her imagination to fill in the gaps and try to understand the choices she made. Alice is a lovable narrator, and Charlie is a vividly painted character, who we can understand without judgement why Alice fell in love with him despite their political differences. The genius of the book, though, is the structural choices of the writer and the way one pivotal moment at the beginning shifts everything for the reader at the end. 

lizsaiste's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

_sleslie's review against another edition

5.0

Really great read. I devoured it.

tmoake's review against another edition

5.0

This book was really good and very interesting. It was sort of like historical fiction in that you are enjoying a fictional plotline, but learning about another time and place at the same time. This book is like that but about former first lady Laura Bush. I feel like I learned a bit about her actual life and some insight about the Bush Dynasty as well. Very interesting.

kelly104's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

laurennmiller's review against another edition

4.5

I thought this was fascinating. This book takes a concept I couldn’t quite understand at the outset (ie a first lady with conflicting political opinions than her husband, who may not have even voted for him) - but gives it a certain kind of sense when viewed through the lens of each individual decision that got her there. Many of the biographical facts are based on Laura Bush, who is not someone I knew much about, and the public record on her is rather dull and one-sided (something explicitly referenced in the book). I really appreciated the writing style, especially on the introspective parts, and those actually made much more sense when I got to the author’s biographical info at the end and learned Curtis Sittenfeld is a woman. I will definitely be seeking out more books by this author. 

tbartkey's review against another edition

4.0

First three sections were much better than the last, which seemed to be a very rushed way to pull together all the lose ends. An enjoyable read, but only because I refused to let my mind picture G.W. as Charlie.

booksconnectus's review against another edition

4.0

4.5
Audio
I loved everything about this book. Another audio I wished that I had read-although the audio was excellent. Now I want to go grab the Laura Bush biography off my library's shelf and see how true to her real life this book actually was. This was my first Sittenfeld book but I will read more after this one! History, fiction based on fact...important topics, hard choices. Definitely a great book to discuss.

cgrayson87's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5