American Wife

Curtis Sittenfeld

W F Howes, 2009 - Bildungsromans - 866 pages

In 2000, the closest election in American history, Alice Blackwell's husband becomes president of the USA. Their time in the White House proves to be heady and controversial. But it is Alice's own story - that of a kind, bookish, only child born in the 1940s Midwest who comes to inhabit a life of dizzying wealth - that is itself remarkable. Alice describes her small-town upbringing, and the tragedy that shaped her identity; she recalls her early adulthood as a librarian, and her courtship with the man who swept her off her feet. And she confides the privileges and difficulties of being first lady, a role that is uniquely cloistered and public, secretive and exposed...

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - cziering - LibraryThing

It was so long! And only moderately interesting. A little bit more so if you see it as a parallel to George and Laura Bush's story. I didn't like the writing; too many interrupted thoughts and the topic did not appeal to me.

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - 101ReasonsWhy - LibraryThing

This book started out stronger than it ended. The main character seems very contained even during the interior monologues. Not sure that I buy the conclusion.

About the author

Elizabeth Curtis Sittenfeld was born August 23, 1975 in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is an American writer. Her titles include: Prep, the tale of a Massachusetts prep school; The Man of My Dreams, a coming-of-age novel and an examination of romantic love; and American Wife, a fictional story loosely based on the life of First Lady Laura Bush. Sittenfeld attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, before transferring to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. At Stanford, she studied Creative Writing. At the time, she was also chosen as one of Glamour magazine's College Women of the Year. She earned an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa. In 2018 she made the bestseller list with her title, You Think It, I'll Say It.

Bibliographic information

• Title: American Wife
• Author: Curtis Sittenfeld
• Edition: large print
• Publisher: W F Howes, 2009
• ISBN: 1407432974, 9781407432977
• Length: 866 pages