Thursday, June 10, 2010

What's behind the First Lady's radiant smile?

American Wife, by Curtis Sittenfeld
Recommend: Yes
To whom: Fans of The West Wing, people fascinated by the American presidency, and those who appreciate strong character development
Why: Riveting. The progression of Alice and Charlie Blackwell’s relationship is real, complicated, and delicious.

When I got online to update this post, a timely headline showed up on Yahoo! News: "Bush twin's surprise remark". Barbara Bush revealed on Fox News that she's glad health care reform passed. The article also mentions that former First Lady Laura Bush recently said she is pleased that another woman, Elena Kagan, has been nominated to the Supreme Court, and she told Larry King she supports gay marriage and abortion rights. Of course, Barbara and Laura's views are not popular with the Republican majority.

How does this relate to American Wife? I was excited to find this novel at my local library's used bookstore. I am a big fan of the TV show The West Wing. I had recently watched the final season on DVD, and was eager to find a book that would give me a similar fictional inside glimpse of the White House. Once I started reading, I was a bit disappointed to learn that only one of four parts of the novel would take place at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. I also discovered right away that Alice Lindgren was based on Laura Bush.

While reading the first half of the book, I cringed to think what Mrs. Bush must have thought about the book, assuming she read it. Sittenfeld spares no detail in describing Alice's surprisingly scandalous sex life. (I am still looking to see if there are comments from Mrs. Bush out there!) The book had unfortunate (but deliberate) timing for Mrs. Bush; it was released just months before the end of her husband's presidency. I knew I was reading fiction, but there are many parallels in the lives of Alice and Laura, including the devastating car accident that killed a high school classmate. I often wondered what was fact and what was fiction.

But from the beginning, Sittenfeld makes you truly care about Alice and despite his character flaws, Charlie Blackwell is likable the moment he is introduced. We all know that the Bush Administration could do nothing right in the eyes of the press for most of its tenure. But Sittenfeld humanizes Alice and Charlie Blackwell, and as a reader I felt sympathy for the couple's challenges. The article I mentioned above is a reality that Alice struggles with as First Lady; she has different views from her husband, but is unable (with a few notable exceptions) to express them.

Although I had hoped the entire book would focus on the First Lady in the White House, I loved getting to know Alice as she grew up in Wisconsin, seeing her relationship with Charlie develop, and watching them became America's most powerful couple. The section devoted to Alice's life as First Lady focuses on a single day, which masterfully ties up remaining loose ends. Alice's feelings about her public responsibilities and expectations as the president's wife are fascinating -- and probably spot on.

I'm looking forward to reading Laura Bush's autobiography, Spoken From the Heart, that came out last month.