Review: American Wife

The novel American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld tells the life story of Alice Blackwell, a fictional character whose life closely resembles that of first lady Laura Bush.  Ever since I heard that Laura was a teacher and a librarian (not to mention a democrat) prior to marrying W, I've been intrigued and eager to learn more about her.  Lacking the patience for traditional biographies, I was thrilled when this book came out because it provides real-ish information disguised as a fictional story.  Sittenfeld is an excellent writer and story-teller, and American Wife is one of the most addictive non-chicklit books I've read in a long time - so much so that all I could think about as I went about my daily routine was how I would much rather be at home reading than at work, yoga, walking the dog, etc.  

The novel is divided into four sections, titled for the addresses Alice lives at in the corresponding eras of her life.  Incidentally, I think the first two parts were my favourites. They depict Alice's life as a youth and young woman (before the Charlie, the W character, comes into the picture).  Alice is an intensely likable character, and easy for bookish girls like me to relate to.  She and Charlie are well suited for each other in the sense that they are complementary, but as the book goes on it becomes clear that the reader is intended to see Alice as the better half of the marriage.  For much of the second half, the novel maintains a "what was she thinking" sort of tone, and the last section (1600 Pennsylvania Avenue) reads like one long apology on the behalf of Laura for the mistakes of the Bush administration - oops, I mean Alice on behalf of the Blackwell administration.  Despite being a little too preachy in this respect, this stance is necessary in a way in order for the novel to tie up certain loose ends from earlier in the story.

Like Oliver Stone in his new movie W, Sittenfeld seems grudgingly forced to portray the president as a misguided but ultimately good hearted fool, who tragically gets into politics for all the wrong reasons and is subsequently blinded to reality by his own pampered life and happy-go-lucky attitude.  There's so much personal hate out there for Bush that it's sometimes good to be reminded he is for the most part a figurehead (the real villains are people like Karl Rove and Dick Cheney).

Mostly, I have to wonder what the real Laura Bush thinks of this book.  It's hard to believe she hasn't read it, given what a reader she is.  Overall, I think she would quite like it.