American Wife

Laura Bush might seem an unlikely source of inspiration for a novel. Compared with her endlessly scrutinized predecessor, our First Lady appears to be a cipher, fitting the glazed-smile presidential-spouse role as neatly as a white glove. But in American Wife, Curtis Sittenfeld (Prep) uses the outlines of Mrs. Bush’s life to create a compelling story of a woman facing the unintended consequences of her choices—from accidentally killing a schoolmate in a car accident to saving her substance-abusing husband from self-destruction and thus propelling him into history.

Alice Blackwell, the enormously sympathetic narrator of Sittenfeld’s third novel, is an intelligent and compassionate former school librarian, who is quietly pro-choice and a onetime Democrat. Her husband, Charlie Blackwell, is the spoiled son of a former governor, a lovable rogue and C student who somehow manages to become the President of the United States. Obviously, the real-life doppelgängers influence and complement our perceptions of the novel. Because the reader Knows What’s Coming, the book’s 550 pages move quickly. But American Wife’s mingling of fact and fiction can also be distracting, provoking the desire to rush to the computer and find out if Laura Bush really did kill someone (yes) or if Dubya is indeed afraid of the dark (not to Google’s knowledge).

Fortunately, Sittenfeld’s remarkable gifts as a storyteller draw you back into the fictional world of Alice Blackwell. She writes in the sharp, realistic tradition of Philip Roth and Richard Ford—clear, unpretentious prose; metaphors so spot-on you barely notice them. Sittenfeld may have lifted the set pieces from a real woman’s life, but in the process she has created a wise and insightful character who is entirely her own.–Sara Eckel

Sittenfeld reads at Barnes & Noble Tribeca Sept 15.

Buy American Wife now on BN.com