
American Wife
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Kimberly Farr
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 TapeListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
“Terrific...an intelligent, bighearted novel about a controversial political dynasty.” (Entertainment Weekly)
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Excellent!
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A pleasant surprise
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It really doesn't matter how much of this story is fact or fiction...although from the many books I've read about this dynasty, there's a lot of truth here.
FUN! Light and easy listening!!
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Amazing book
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Good Start
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Mesmerizing and Enchanting!
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It was interesting to read and consider the complex intersections of personal beliefs and public persona and of commitment to your marriage v. commitment to your morals and/or country as well as the morality of speaking out against something with which you inherently disagree v. the complicity of idly standing by. This is even more relevant in today’s political climate than it was in 2008, and I consider Alice’s to be a cautionary tale.
Curtis Sittenfeld really blurs the line between fact and fiction with this one and not always in a good way. Not knowing much about Laura Bush, I can’t help but conflate her with the protagonist because of how parallel their stories are, although Sittenfeld claims to have based only 15% of the book on real-life details. Despite my continual reminders otherwise as I was reading, Alice Blackwell was basically Laura Bush to me. This blurring is at best confusing and at worst misleading to the reader.
I also disagree wholeheartedly with the reviews describing this book as ‘feminist.’ Alice personified some of the worst stereotypes ascribed to women - that we are passive, weak, meek, and should be subservient to and exist in a supporting role to the men in our lives. Being privy to Alice’s inner monologue gives the reader a glimpse into her intellectual independence though this almost makes it worse and she does show signs of asserting herself at the end of the book but this is not enough. The character is more anti-feminist than feminist.
Very long but says very little
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Excellent read, kept my attention
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wonderful book, captivating
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Great Book, We’ll Written
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