Scan barcode
A review by ponch22
Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld
5.0
I'm not sure, but I think [b:Rodham|50253429|Rodham|Curtis Sittenfeld|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580749557l/50253429._SY75_.jpg|75164713] may be the first historical-fiction novel I've ever read.
[a:Curtis Sittenfeld|6429|Curtis Sittenfeld|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1371752798p2/6429.jpg] has created an alternate history where Hillary Rodham never married Bill Clinton and how that affects things in the '90s and today. Based on the large number of books listed in her Acknowledgments, Sittenfeld did a good job gathering facts and anecdotes (while also, obviously, creating a lot of things out of whole cloth).
The novel is separated into three parts—The Catch, The Woman, and The Front-Runner. The first third takes place in the '70s & covers everything from their first meeting in a Yale student lounge through their first date alone in a museum; from several of Bill's proposals to when Hillary finally says "Yes" only to have it all fall apart and the two go their separate ways. And, while I know this is a work of fiction, I still wish I'd read either of their memoirs to know how much of this was real (or at least somewhat based on reality).
The second section jumps to the early '90s where a single Hillary, now a professor at Northwestern, gets a call from Bill, who is thinking of running for President. And the third section jumps to 2015/16 where Hillary is running for President, but her opponents (and supporters) are quite different from our timeline.
I don't want to give too much away, because the reason I loved this so much is because it took such strange and interesting twists. I figured it'd be an alt-history novel where Hillary wasn't burdened with all the baggage she had being First Lady for eight years, and so had an easier path to the Presidency. However, Sittenfeld is a realist and nothing for women can ever be easy.
Despite never rising up with Bill through Little Rock and Washington, she still has a media against her in this timeline. Every action and word is over-scrutinized and things that would be seen as assertive for men are judged as bitchy for her.
I really want to know if HRC has read this and if so what she thinks of it. Is she amused by Sittenfeld's insights and imagination or horrified & offended by the liberties she's taken? In the end, I enjoyed the ride Sittenfeld took me on, even if it did depress me to finish this with Cheeto-man still our President, refusing to concede...
[a:Curtis Sittenfeld|6429|Curtis Sittenfeld|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1371752798p2/6429.jpg] has created an alternate history where Hillary Rodham never married Bill Clinton and how that affects things in the '90s and today. Based on the large number of books listed in her Acknowledgments, Sittenfeld did a good job gathering facts and anecdotes (while also, obviously, creating a lot of things out of whole cloth).
The novel is separated into three parts—The Catch, The Woman, and The Front-Runner. The first third takes place in the '70s & covers everything from their first meeting in a Yale student lounge through their first date alone in a museum; from several of Bill's proposals to when Hillary finally says "Yes" only to have it all fall apart and the two go their separate ways. And, while I know this is a work of fiction, I still wish I'd read either of their memoirs to know how much of this was real (or at least somewhat based on reality).
The second section jumps to the early '90s where a single Hillary, now a professor at Northwestern, gets a call from Bill, who is thinking of running for President. And the third section jumps to 2015/16 where Hillary is running for President, but her opponents (and supporters) are quite different from our timeline.
I don't want to give too much away, because the reason I loved this so much is because it took such strange and interesting twists. I figured it'd be an alt-history novel where Hillary wasn't burdened with all the baggage she had being First Lady for eight years, and so had an easier path to the Presidency. However, Sittenfeld is a realist and nothing for women can ever be easy.
Despite never rising up with Bill through Little Rock and Washington, she still has a media against her in this timeline. Every action and word is over-scrutinized and things that would be seen as assertive for men are judged as bitchy for her.
And really, wasn’t this endless ruminating over my own likability in itself a thing only a woman would do? Did Bill—or Ted Cruz or Rand Paul—ever ponder their likability, or did they simply go after what they wanted? Did Bill ever stop to think about which of us was more qualified, did he question his own motives for entry into the race? The idea was laughable.The novel pulls from reality (I watched a 60 Minutes interview Bill & Hillary did in 1992 which was echoed in the novel) in an eerie way but also diverges in very unexpected ways (for example, rally chants of "Shut her up! Shut her up!" fill the rallies of one of Hillary's opponents in this alt-2016).
I really want to know if HRC has read this and if so what she thinks of it. Is she amused by Sittenfeld's insights and imagination or horrified & offended by the liberties she's taken? In the end, I enjoyed the ride Sittenfeld took me on, even if it did depress me to finish this with Cheeto-man still our President, refusing to concede...