Two days in, and I've finished my first book of the year.
IT WAS AMAZING.
The book is called American Wife, and was written by Curtis Sittenfeld.
it opens with the following statement:
"American Wife is a work of fiction loosely inspired by the life of an American first lady. Her husband, his parents, and certain prominent members of his administration are recognizable. All other characters in the novel are products of the author's imagination, as are the incidents concerning them."
I'll give you one guess who the first lady is.....Laura Bush.
Honestly, when I bought the book, I had no idea it was about her. I glanced over the back cover, and it was on sale at Powell's books (THE Powell's books). I was enamoured with the concept of a book about a first lady....and if Laura Bush is anything like the character that portrays her in this book, I seriously underestimated her as a human being.
In the book the character Alice Lindgren is a clever, kind, liberal, and well-rounded woman who falls in love with a man from a well-connected Republican family. She falls in love with him despite their political differences, and the book shows how their relationship develops over 30 some odd years, between his political aspirations, alcoholism, and her running from a brutal past.
As a staunchly liberal young lady, I can honestly say that this book helped me to better understand the inner workings of the Bush family, and helped me to sympathize with the difficulties that the eight catastrophic years of his presidency had on their family.
I'd recommend this novel to anyone. It was sweet, insightful, and very well written. I wouldn't be too surprised if this author turned up again somewhere in my line-up.
off to start book #2,
Candy
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