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)

Wonderful-- honest and moving

I so enjoyed this book. Sittenfeld has done an amazing job creating the characters, especially Alice. The story is unflinchingly honest and I got totally pulled into the world the author creates: the family, the struggles of this woman as a wife and mother. What a treat to read a story, and to get to know a character, so fully developed as this.

Fictional version of First Lady

likeable main character, good reader, story changes a little abrubtly 2/3 way in hard to follow after that.

Good read

Enjoyed the story line but did not like the constant flashback and flash forward. Also did not like Alice character. She seemed to nag about everything

Characters Grow Anemic As Story Progresses

I've read a couple of Sittenfeld's books. She draws such great complex characters and has this great imagination, but sometimes she gets I'm her own way. She's so liberal, which is fine. But, her own feelings about President George W. Bush broke Charlie. He became such a caricature. In doing so, she makes Alice become a woman without integrity who ignores her convictions. I don't think was her intention as Sittenfeld actually likes Laura Bush. But, she just couldn't bring herself to make Charlie more than just ego, and thus makes Alice unrespectable in that she stays with a man that no one could respect. Alice just "lived and let live" with far too much.
The flippant racist remarks made by Charlie were a-lot-a-lot, and Sittenfeld made her understanding of systemic racism apparent. But, for her characters of color, their stories never went far from just being pitiable. Can't say I've seen her wrote POC perspectives that well yet.
But, I still learned a lot about Laura Bush, who is the first First Lady of my lifetime whom I remember. That's why I rated it as highly as I did.

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.

Wondering What Is True Distracts

It's impossible to listen without wondering what parts of the story are true. I'm not sure the story would be that interesting without the subtext of the "Bush Dynasty". The author's style is to write details down to the most minute, and at times it can be too much - just get to the story. But it's endurable if you can also imagine that the story is about Laura Bush. By itself the story would be too tedious and probably boring.
The narrator was perfect for her character Alice. A mid-west wife, her voice and performance fit the character perfectly. She doesn't have too much range when she's speaking the parts of others, but it works because the entire story is told from Alice's point of view so in that sense you would expect to hear her husband's dialogue, for instance, as told by Alice.
In all, the tie-in to an actual First Lady makes the story interesting but I find myself wondering, well did any of this actually happen, or is it just the author's fantasy of what she wishes Laura Bush did and felt? If the latter, what was the point of reading the story?

An interesting insight

First of all, I'm always impressed when a male author can write so well in a woman's voice. This book also presents a plausible picture of what it might have been like being the wife of a well-known, recent president and also a believable characterization of the personality of that president. I felt like Sittenfeld did some thorough research and created a really believable story. For my taste though, there was a little too much graphic sex ... athough some might argue that it was important in establishing the nature of both the husband and the wife.