Scan barcode
caroline77's review against another edition
5.0
***NO SPOILERS***
As she did with [b:Prep|9844|Prep|Curtis Sittenfeld|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386925666l/9844._SY75_.jpg|2317177], Curtis Sittenfeld tackled privilege (in general) and, to a lesser extent, white privilege, in this sweeping novel. American Wife is based loosely on the life of Laura Bush--"loosely" being the operative word. Sittenfeld took the most notable events in Bush's life and embellished to create a compelling literary fiction with drama, tension, and, most of all, feeling. Her embellishment also drew a little from Laura Bush's mother-in-law, Barbara Bush. The combination works perfectly. The Laura Bush of Sittenfeld's imagining--a character she named Alice Blackwell--has Laura Bush's politeness and kindness (and, at times, blandness) and Barbara Bush's Democratic views alongside her husband's Republican ones. I always wondered how Barbara Bush could reconcile being married to someone with views so different from her own, and Sittenfeld offered a window into that, showing how it's hardly a straightforward reconciling.
Alice Blackwell comes from a humble WASP background, an only child who lives with her loving parents and cool, with-it grandma. She marries Charlie Blackwell, also from a WASP background but vastly more privileged. Sittenfeld depicted well the culture shock of marrying into such a family, and one of the best scenes involves a family gathering with the Blackwell clan, ebullient to an almost aggressive degree, and shallow. These are people living in a bubble with a black maid whom they consider family but who sees the reality and regards their wealth with quiet disdain.
Sittenfeld fashions characters in her stories with startling vividness. Everyone who plays any kind of significant role in American Wife leaps off the page so I could hear them and see them in all the unique ways that make them them. I could see their particular gait, the slightest expressions on their face, all body language. I could hear the amused twang in Charlie Blackwell's voice without Sittenfeld actually saying he has a twang. I could feel Alice Blackwell's generosity and warmth.
Sittenfeld doesn't just write stories. She writes with intention. She writes to entertain but to force contemplation--and she does it without being heavy-handed. She has a message, but she communicates that in a way that feels totally organic to her plot; it always makes sense. American Wife is more than 500 pages, and every page was needed to establish a solid foundation for the story's main takeaway. As is true of Prep, what Sittenfeld was trying to say with American Wife is undeniable.
This is the strongest fiction story about privilege that I've read--and, with a major plot point that's tear-jerking, one of the best meditations on tragedy and bereavement. On that point, Sittenfeld presented shockingly good insight into the stickiness of grief. Many authors compartmentalize it: A tragic something happens; the character mourns; and the story moves on with no reference to the tragedy, as if human beings are automatons who mourn for a set period and then are just fine. Sittenfeld understands that major grief cannot be encapsulated; in an instant, it leaves an indelible mark, informing future decisions and way of looking at the world.
American Wife is more than meets the eye. Despite its story line of a woman who goes on to become First Lady of the U.S., it's not overwhelmingly political. It's merely a story about the complexity of being human. Anyone who's lived, with all of life's ups and downs, will relate.
As she did with [b:Prep|9844|Prep|Curtis Sittenfeld|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386925666l/9844._SY75_.jpg|2317177], Curtis Sittenfeld tackled privilege (in general) and, to a lesser extent, white privilege, in this sweeping novel. American Wife is based loosely on the life of Laura Bush--"loosely" being the operative word. Sittenfeld took the most notable events in Bush's life and embellished to create a compelling literary fiction with drama, tension, and, most of all, feeling. Her embellishment also drew a little from Laura Bush's mother-in-law, Barbara Bush. The combination works perfectly. The Laura Bush of Sittenfeld's imagining--a character she named Alice Blackwell--has Laura Bush's politeness and kindness (and, at times, blandness) and Barbara Bush's Democratic views alongside her husband's Republican ones. I always wondered how Barbara Bush could reconcile being married to someone with views so different from her own, and Sittenfeld offered a window into that, showing how it's hardly a straightforward reconciling.
Alice Blackwell comes from a humble WASP background, an only child who lives with her loving parents and cool, with-it grandma. She marries Charlie Blackwell, also from a WASP background but vastly more privileged. Sittenfeld depicted well the culture shock of marrying into such a family, and one of the best scenes involves a family gathering with the Blackwell clan, ebullient to an almost aggressive degree, and shallow. These are people living in a bubble with a black maid whom they consider family but who sees the reality and regards their wealth with quiet disdain.
Sittenfeld fashions characters in her stories with startling vividness. Everyone who plays any kind of significant role in American Wife leaps off the page so I could hear them and see them in all the unique ways that make them them. I could see their particular gait, the slightest expressions on their face, all body language. I could hear the amused twang in Charlie Blackwell's voice without Sittenfeld actually saying he has a twang. I could feel Alice Blackwell's generosity and warmth.
Sittenfeld doesn't just write stories. She writes with intention. She writes to entertain but to force contemplation--and she does it without being heavy-handed. She has a message, but she communicates that in a way that feels totally organic to her plot; it always makes sense. American Wife is more than 500 pages, and every page was needed to establish a solid foundation for the story's main takeaway. As is true of Prep, what Sittenfeld was trying to say with American Wife is undeniable.
This is the strongest fiction story about privilege that I've read--and, with a major plot point that's tear-jerking, one of the best meditations on tragedy and bereavement. On that point, Sittenfeld presented shockingly good insight into the stickiness of grief. Many authors compartmentalize it: A tragic something happens; the character mourns; and the story moves on with no reference to the tragedy, as if human beings are automatons who mourn for a set period and then are just fine. Sittenfeld understands that major grief cannot be encapsulated; in an instant, it leaves an indelible mark, informing future decisions and way of looking at the world.
American Wife is more than meets the eye. Despite its story line of a woman who goes on to become First Lady of the U.S., it's not overwhelmingly political. It's merely a story about the complexity of being human. Anyone who's lived, with all of life's ups and downs, will relate.
kellyheet's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent book! While it claims to be loosely based off of Laura Bush's life you rarely feel that connection while reading it. I liked the splitting of the book into the locations where she lived. It made it easier to follow the time frame of the book and was neat since it was different than most other books. I recommend this one!
alisposato's review against another edition
3.0
The book starts out amazingly, but then Curtis completely changes the main character into someone completely stuck up, annoying, unlikable, and almost unbelievable!:( Would have been a GREAT book except for the last of the 4 sections!
zoes_bookworld's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
minatakegami's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
It started off strong but the ending was kinda unsatisfactory
helen_t_reads's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Alice is a smart, kind, quiet and bookish only child, born and raised in Wisconsin, and haunted by a teenage tragedy and its repercussions, which define the rest of her life.
She becomes a teacher, then a librarian, and is devoted to her job until, in her early 30s, she meets her husband to be, Charlie Blackwell, a privileged son of a large, wealthy republican family.
They marry quickly, despite her far more liberal beliefs and political leanings, which include being pro-choice and pro-gay marriage. But, when he becomes President, and she is first lady, she finds that there is an unavoidable and growing tension between her private beliefs and the very public expectations of the role she carries out.
If some of this sounds familiar to you, this could be because Alice's story is a fictional reimagining of the life of Laura Bush, former First Lady, wife of President George W Bush.
This is a novel that tackles major moral, social, religious and political issues, and does so with the lightest touch. However, despite its storyline, there is, remarkably, comparatively little political content. As the title suggests this is the story of a wife, first and foremost, not a public office.
It's a novel with a time frame that spans several decades and in truth is partly a coming of age story, and partly the story of a 30+ year marriage.
It's a book that deals in comparison and contrast: small town Midwest life and life in the capital city at the heart and centre of everything; personal tragedy and the country's loss of its young servicemen in a misjudged, misguided war in the middle east; a normal, ordinary, grounded life and the life of the wealthy, the privileged and the politically shielded; a private life as a citizen and a public life as the first family; a wife's forbearance, support, sublimation, strong moral code and agnosticism and a husband's ambition, desire to leave a legacy, battles with alcohol and born again Christianity; private beliefs and a public persona.
And most of all it's an in-depth character study of Alice herself. Sittenfeld captures the tone of a 60+ year old woman reflecting back on her life, and the experiences and events she has lived through, and it reads for all the world like a real memoir, with its detail and description, its tone and vocabulary reflecting and capturing a particular age, class, education and moral standpoint.
It is beautifully done, it's quietly compelling and compulsive, and it's truly thought-provoking. I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to reading more by this very talented author.
She becomes a teacher, then a librarian, and is devoted to her job until, in her early 30s, she meets her husband to be, Charlie Blackwell, a privileged son of a large, wealthy republican family.
They marry quickly, despite her far more liberal beliefs and political leanings, which include being pro-choice and pro-gay marriage. But, when he becomes President, and she is first lady, she finds that there is an unavoidable and growing tension between her private beliefs and the very public expectations of the role she carries out.
If some of this sounds familiar to you, this could be because Alice's story is a fictional reimagining of the life of Laura Bush, former First Lady, wife of President George W Bush.
This is a novel that tackles major moral, social, religious and political issues, and does so with the lightest touch. However, despite its storyline, there is, remarkably, comparatively little political content. As the title suggests this is the story of a wife, first and foremost, not a public office.
It's a novel with a time frame that spans several decades and in truth is partly a coming of age story, and partly the story of a 30+ year marriage.
It's a book that deals in comparison and contrast: small town Midwest life and life in the capital city at the heart and centre of everything; personal tragedy and the country's loss of its young servicemen in a misjudged, misguided war in the middle east; a normal, ordinary, grounded life and the life of the wealthy, the privileged and the politically shielded; a private life as a citizen and a public life as the first family; a wife's forbearance, support, sublimation, strong moral code and agnosticism and a husband's ambition, desire to leave a legacy, battles with alcohol and born again Christianity; private beliefs and a public persona.
And most of all it's an in-depth character study of Alice herself. Sittenfeld captures the tone of a 60+ year old woman reflecting back on her life, and the experiences and events she has lived through, and it reads for all the world like a real memoir, with its detail and description, its tone and vocabulary reflecting and capturing a particular age, class, education and moral standpoint.
It is beautifully done, it's quietly compelling and compulsive, and it's truly thought-provoking. I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to reading more by this very talented author.
aejohnson85's review against another edition
4.0
As many other reviewers have stated, I found the first half of this book engaging - Alice's childhood and her courtship with Charlie were wonderful, but I unfortunately found the book bogged down once Alice and Charlie were married. Because the book covers all 61 years of Alice's life, many events are skimmed over (happen "off page")...I would have liked to read more about how Charlie became governor and the presidential campaign and how that affected their relationship!
Interestingly enough, I had no idea the book was based on Laura Bush's life when I picked it up from the library. However, the beginning note to readers and the White House section made it very clear that Charlie was loosely based on George W. Bush. I looked up Laura's life just to see how closely American Wife mirrored her life and I was shocked to see how many events were borrowed for this novel!
Overall, an interesting character study!
Interestingly enough, I had no idea the book was based on Laura Bush's life when I picked it up from the library. However, the beginning note to readers and the White House section made it very clear that Charlie was loosely based on George W. Bush. I looked up Laura's life just to see how closely American Wife mirrored her life and I was shocked to see how many events were borrowed for this novel!
Overall, an interesting character study!