Review – American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.

REVIEWED BY LAURA STANNING

Alice Blackwell is a small-town library teacher from Wisconsin, but by the time we meet her in the prologue of American Wife she is the wife of Charlie Blackwell, President of the United States.  Ostensibly a story about Alice’s life and the path that leads her to her position as First Lady, the book is a (very) thinly veiled biography of Laura Bush, wife of one of the most controversial US Presidents; George W. Bush.  The pivotal scene of the novel is when a teenaged Alice causes a road accident which results in the death of one of her classmates, a boy with whom she is in love.  The accident becomes the defining moment of Alice’s life: every subsequent choice she makes is ultimately motivated by her feelings of guilt and loss, including her relationships with both Charlie Blackwell and the brother of the boy she whose death she caused, a relationship which comes back to haunt her once Charlie has become President.

 

However, this is not a novel full of dramatic events, but rather one which follows the small steps of life; the little compromises and choices we make every day which ultimately define who we become.  Unlike so many of the novels published about George Dubya’s era, Sittenfeld admirably resists the temptation to Bush-bash – his presidency and Alice’s position as First Wife are presented more as incidental facts than as the point of the book.  American Wife is rather a sympathetic and delicate look at the life of a likeable and intelligent woman whose early tragedies loom large in her life, distorting not only her view of herself but also of how the world works.  During the course of the novel we watch Alice struggle with her emotional demons, and also with the realisation that her strong moral values must sometimes be compromised in order to keep peace with her husband, and with the position that he holds. Charlie Blackwell is presented as impetuous and simple – almost childlike in his interaction with the world and in his faith in the religion that saves him from his own demons; temper and drink.  While not exactly making him a sympathetic character, American Wife certainly presents a picture of George W Bush (and, crucially, his family) that helps the reader to understand why he became the kind of President that he did.

 

Half novel, half biography, this is a fascinating and compelling story of a woman who, despite her husband’s position, remained an extremely private person, appearing in public more often as a devoted wife and mother than as herself.  It is easy to view those who are close to high-profile figures as little more than a supporting cast, tugged (reluctantly in Alice’s case) into the spotlight by other people’s ambition.  American Wife provides an insightful view of life from the wings, and of the difficulties of reconciling two lives; private and public.

 

10/10

 

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