41. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld As you know, I've been looking forward to this one for a while, especially after I snagged it recently in a bargain bin. Sittenfeld's Prep was a book that made a big impression on me and made me vow never to be like her passive-aggressive protagonist, Lee Fiora. American Wife has a much more likable protagonist in Alice Blackwell,the fictional counterpart of Laura Bush. The novel chronicles Alice's life at four addresses, her childhood home in Riley, Wisconsin, her bachelorette pad in Madison when she works as a school librarian and meets husband-to-be Charlie Blackwell (fictional counterpart of George W. Bush), her home with Charlie and their daughter in a Milwaukee suburb when she considers leaving him, and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue when she's re-considering her choice to stay silent on issues where she disagrees with her husband the President. Like Prep , this novel is written in retrospect and often re-counts events out...
Life, Books, and SFF