American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

 I first published this review in September 2, 2010

This is the synopsis from the book: "A kind, bookish only child born in the 1940's, 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."

This synopsis is a bit misleading in that the husband doesn't run for office until the last few chapters of the book but the "story" of this president's wife is very interesting. 

I read this book a year ago and while I was sorting through my books I found it on the shelf and realized I wanted to write a blog about it. It was an interesting book. I've read other reviews about it that state they believe it is somewhat based on JFK and Jackie.

Some interesting quotes from the book:

"When you are a high school girl, there is nothing more miraculous than a high school boy."

"It was inappropriate to introduce poverty and woe while sunning yourself poolside; you either ought to be elsewhere, doing something about it, or you ought to sun yourself in the spirit that sunning requires."

"I had the fleeting thought then that we are each of us pathetic in one way or another, and the trick is to marry a person whose patheticness you can tolerate..."

All in all a very interesting book. Written about real people but in the style of fiction. The author did her research and although sometimes she gets a bit wordy, she has written about the life of one of my favorite people - and she's done it well.

Although I won't say it's a very good book, I will say it is interesting and I have enjoyed reading it. It has taken me a little longer to read than most books.