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lcmilewski 's review for:
American Wife
by Curtis Sittenfeld
American Wife is a novel/fake memoir about a First Lady who is possibly/definitely supposed to be Laura Bush. I knew next to nothing about Laura Bush before reading this and it did lead me down a bit of a rabbit hole after reading to learn more about what is true in the book versus what is fiction. However, the actual history itself seems less central to the book; even the fact that this is the story of a First Lady is of secondary importance to the themes of the novel. The novel's main merit is the exploration of how a woman's life and priorities can be sidetracked by her husband's without her necessarily even realizing it until much later. These parts of the novel felt authentic, complex, and quietly heartbreaking. It's also an intriguing peek into the lives of the rich and famous, which I always find voyeuristically pleasing.