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A review by daredeviling
Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Fuckkkkkk this blew my mind.
Updated review: I didn't think I would like this book. I'm not really into politics and I know very little about it. I also know little about Hillary Clinton beyond the general facts that most people know about. So imagine my surprise when this book completely pulls me into Hillary's story and brings me along for her political ride of a lifetime.
This is very much a ~comfort fantasy~ book; "what if Hillary never married the man who dragged her political career down?" which eventually led to"What if Hillary won the 2016 election?" We could have had it alllll! But despite it being fantasy, it pulls heavily on real facts from Hillary's life. I was surprised to find out that the author had never actually met Hillary, and I am soooo curious if Hillary herself has read this book (and what she thought of it).
I loved the character development in this novel, both of Bill and Hillary as they take different paths in life. Bill starts out as a character who you as the reader find charming and interesting and an interesting, good person. As the book continues, he becomes basically a less offensive Donald Trump by the climax of the novel, showing who he really is as a person. And Hillary starts out not really interested in running for public office, but eventually takes on running for the highest office in the land and feeling confident about her ambition. Of course, there are a bunch of other interesting and memorable side characters as well (note: Donald Trump is in this novel and he is fucking hilarious because he doesn't have the power to actually fuck up the US, as he is not and never became the President...if only...but it was nice to see him supporting Hillary in this fantasy world!)
What really sold this book for me though, is that Hillary never gets married or has children. As a woman in today's society where the message is constantly that a woman (particularly in the public eye or in politics) has to have the whole package to be happy, it was so fucking refreshing to see an ambitious, career driven woman who is happy with her life while not being married or having kids. It was just clearly something that Hillary in this novel never prioritized over her career; although she did date some, there was never the spark that she had with Bill and so she just simply never got married. I loved it so much and felt so seen by this book as opposed to every other book out there where the main character finds a spouse and lives happily ever after.
I obviously don't know what Hillary would sound like in a casual conversation or anything, but the voice that the author used for fictional Hillary felt so true to life from the limited amount that I have heard of her speaking. She was engaging and it felt like reading something that a friend had written. She was someone I legitimately could see myself becoming friends with. I had to remind myself several times while reading this novel that it wasn't real and that none of this had actually happened in reality, but I wish it was real.
It is too the author's credit that she was so good at blending truth and fiction that I was pulled into believing for moments at a time that this was an autobiography and not a fictional novel. For example, when Bill Clinton and Hillary are running against each other for the Democrat nomination in 2016 (yeah, that happens here!), Bill essentially takes the place of Donald Trump in the real world, and his supporters also chant things about Hillary that Bill encouraged, like how Donald Trump did so with "Lock her up!" It was so interesting to read about something like this from this perspective—the more things change, the more things stay the same!
This review is getting way too long because I just had so much I wanted to gush about, but basically, everyone who supported Hillary in 2016 should read this escapist fiction where Hillary isn't brought down by the men who define her in real life (as I feel that is how she is often perceived rather than on her own merits). In this novel, she is defined by her own merits, cause the author recognizes that men with or wanting power are often the worst.
Updated review: I didn't think I would like this book. I'm not really into politics and I know very little about it. I also know little about Hillary Clinton beyond the general facts that most people know about. So imagine my surprise when this book completely pulls me into Hillary's story and brings me along for her political ride of a lifetime.
This is very much a ~comfort fantasy~ book; "what if Hillary never married the man who dragged her political career down?" which eventually led to
I loved the character development in this novel, both of Bill and Hillary as they take different paths in life. Bill starts out as a character who you as the reader find charming and interesting and an interesting, good person. As the book continues, he becomes basically a less offensive Donald Trump by the climax of the novel, showing who he really is as a person. And Hillary starts out not really interested in running for public office, but eventually takes on running for the highest office in the land and feeling confident about her ambition. Of course, there are a bunch of other interesting and memorable side characters as well (note: Donald Trump is in this novel and he is fucking hilarious because he doesn't have the power to actually fuck up the US, as he is not and never became the President...if only...but it was nice to see him supporting Hillary in this fantasy world!)
What really sold this book for me though, is that Hillary never gets married or has children. As a woman in today's society where the message is constantly that a woman (particularly in the public eye or in politics) has to have the whole package to be happy, it was so fucking refreshing to see an ambitious, career driven woman who is happy with her life while not being married or having kids. It was just clearly something that Hillary in this novel never prioritized over her career; although she did date some, there was never the spark that she had with Bill and so she just simply never got married. I loved it so much and felt so seen by this book as opposed to every other book out there where the main character finds a spouse and lives happily ever after.
I obviously don't know what Hillary would sound like in a casual conversation or anything, but the voice that the author used for fictional Hillary felt so true to life from the limited amount that I have heard of her speaking. She was engaging and it felt like reading something that a friend had written. She was someone I legitimately could see myself becoming friends with. I had to remind myself several times while reading this novel that it wasn't real and that none of this had actually happened in reality, but I wish it was real.
It is too the author's credit that she was so good at blending truth and fiction that I was pulled into believing for moments at a time that this was an autobiography and not a fictional novel. For example, when Bill Clinton and Hillary are running against each other for the Democrat nomination in 2016 (yeah, that happens here!), Bill essentially takes the place of Donald Trump in the real world, and his supporters also chant things about Hillary that Bill encouraged, like how Donald Trump did so with "Lock her up!" It was so interesting to read about something like this from this perspective—the more things change, the more things stay the same!
This review is getting way too long because I just had so much I wanted to gush about, but basically, everyone who supported Hillary in 2016 should read this escapist fiction where Hillary isn't brought down by the men who define her in real life (as I feel that is how she is often perceived rather than on her own merits). In this novel, she is defined by her own merits, cause the author recognizes that men with or wanting power are often the worst.