American Wife

A Novel

By: Curtis Sittenfeld

Narrated by: Kimberly Farr

Length: 23 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

New York Times best seller. A gorgeously written novel that weaves class, wealth, race, and fate into a brilliant portrait of a first lady - from the author of Rodham and Eligible.

Named one of the 10 best books of the year: Time - People - Entertainment Weekly.

A kind, bookish only child born in the 1940s, Alice Lindgren has no idea that she will one day end up in the White House, married to the president. In her small Wisconsin hometown she learns the virtues of politeness, but a tragic accident when she is 17 shatters her identity and changes the trajectory of her life. More than a decade later, when the charismatic son of a powerful Republican family sweeps her off her feet, she is surprised to find herself admitted into a world of privilege.

And when her husband unexpectedly becomes governor and then president, she discovers that she is married to a man she both loves and fundamentally disagrees with - and that her private beliefs increasingly run against her public persona. As her husband’s presidency enters its second term, Alice must confront contradictions years in the making and face questions nearly impossible to answer.

Named one of the best books of the year: The New York Times Book Review - Chicago Tribune - NPR - Rocky Mountain News - St. Louis Post-Dispatch - The Washington Post Book World.

©2008 Curtis Sittenfeld (P)2008 Books on Tape

Critic Reviews

“Terrific...an intelligent, bighearted novel about a controversial political dynasty.” (Entertainment Weekly)

Mesmerizing and Enchanting!

Wow...what a book. The author weaves an intricate tapestry of characters, plots and history. Not politically offensive.....get the unabridged version...it's about 21 hours, but I found it hard to stop listening. Terrific writing. Worth the money/credit. I'm a new fan for sure!

Totally disgusting trash! Worst novel ever?

I'm a retired 72 year old who has been an Audible member since December 2006. I purchased and listened to this fictionalized political hit piece in May 2009 before Audible has a return policy. My review is 6+ years late. In reviewing my Audible, Kindle, and hardback/paperback purchases beginning in January 2007 I find that I have read or listened to over 1400 books during those 9 years. The list is approximately 15% non-fiction and 85% fiction. I browsing through the 1400+ titles American Wife stands out as clearly the worst book that I have read. It is disgusting!

The American wife is named Alice Blackwell, but is a thinly disguised Laura Welch Bush, wife of George W Bush. . The sad part is that many ignorant readers and reviewers view this totally fictionalized novel as a true description of Laura and George W Bush. It is not true folks; it is just trashy fiction.

Interesting but Insulting

I have read Sittenfeld's other books, Prep and The Man of My Dreams, and enjoyed both. I think she is a talented writer, so gave this book a chance.

I think her storyline is fascinating but only because it is modeled after Laura Bush. I wish she used her imagination to write a fresh work of fiction... or she could just stick to the facts and write a true biography about someone.

The last section of the book (the White House years) is incredibly disappointing, and I felt as though the author was just force-feeding me her anti-war, pro-choice views. I actually jumped ahead of a long rant about the War at one point.

The best parts of the book were those that focused on the characters, their day-to-day lives, and their personal stories. "Alice's" long musings about her life's decisions and Andrew (the character she kills in a car accident) get very old by the end of the book.

Charlie is a weak character who's faith and intelligence is mocked by Alice (and the author--another attempt to take a swipe at GWB and his Presidency.)

So, would I recommend this book? Yes - only if you have an interest in politics and lot of driving ahead of you. If it were a complete work of the author's imagination, it would be fascinating...but I found myself disgusted with the authors attempt to push her anti-Bush views on her audience via the main character--Alice Blackwell.

A pleasant surprise

Held my attention the entire way through. Drops off a bit toward the end but i can overlook that. Who cares if it's based on Laura Bush? It's a good story. STORY. As in fiction. I enjoyed it.

A Unique Perspective

Although I wasn't a big fan of "Prep," author Curtis Sittenfeld does a great job with this fictionalized account of the Bush clan and Laura Bush. I found it surprisingly engrossing. I don't see at as fawning, as some reviewers have, but as a different perspective on the events of the last eight years - whether or not you are a fan of the Bushes. I also found her portrait of the Blackwell clan at Halcyon hysterical. You could actuially see these events happening. With the dead-on portraits Sittenfeld creates, it can be hard to remember that this is a work of fiction, after all. As with "Prep," I find a lot the prose in Sittenfeld's bedroom scenes to be somewhat jarring. It doesn't always seem necessary to go there. I did find the Alice character to be passive to the point of irritation but also finished the book wanting to know more about her model, the real Laura Bush.

Story of a Marriage

I was so surprised at how much I liked the little details in this relationship. I might normally skip ahead, but these details are what brought the characters to life for me. It doesn't matter if this book was based upon real people in our history or not. It was a fascinating book.

Excellent read

I enjoyed this book thoroughly - mostly because the writer is excellent. I sometimes agree with the hype about the fictionalization of real people and questioned at first whether or not Laura Bush would be a particularly charismatic subject, but I was won over. I think it's because of the combination of superb writing and thorough research. It's clear from the get-go that it's fiction, conjecture, just possibilities. I didn't come away with more sympathy for George W. Bush but with some understanding at least as to why she might see something in him and I also think more highly of her. Excellent narration as well.

Not Believable

Politics aside, the author does not make a convincing portrait of the character of the president. I found it inconceivable that the shallow buffoon depicted in Parts 1 and 2 would eventually occupy the White House, and the transition of his persona was not handled in a very convincing manner. From an internal narrative viewpoint, and from a character-development viewpoint the transition from privileged dilettante to world leader just seemed improbable.

I don't quite know why the wife needed to be cast as coming from a very middle class background - this made her part in the entire marriage look like a sellout. Of course she wouldn't leave her hard-drinking wealthy husband and all the perks of a high-end life. She runs away back to humble city, comes to her senses, suddenly and coincidentally her husband gets religion and is instantly sober! Vwalah, problem solved.

I kept wondering what the story would look like if the wife had more of a life of her own, was more of a player. As it is she just piggybacks on her husband's money and keeps her real opinions and beliefs to herself.

I did think the story was well-written, if a bit predictable in the beginning, but the book left me wondering as to the need for such a close approximation to real characters in real situations. Perhaps the dynamic would have been more interesting if the characters had been invented instead of derived from reality.

American Wife

I absolutely loved this title for many reasons. The reader was excellent and some might find the story lengthy but I feel it was worth it from beginning to end. The story was one that was so relevant to myself from the early teens through my 30's. The relationships, family struggles and society expectations always rang so true. Loved it. Hope you will too.

Too long and very preachy.

This book is much too long and by the time I was half way through, I really disliked the main character and her over analyzing of her every thought. Her self-righteousness became so obnoxious! I have enjoyed other Sittenfield books, but this was disappointing and needed major editing.
The narrator did an excellent job.