(84) American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield

I am so sorry that it is has been almost two weeks since I last posted. But, it has been almost two weeks since I last finished a book.

We are going through a design project (ie ... we have been rearranging the ENTIRE store). While, I haven't been doing the actual relay, we have been extremely short-staffed so the "team" can do the relay on overnight shifts. When I have been getting home from work, I have been so exhausted, it is all I can do to blink. It has been worse than the holidays. But it is almost over.

Now I get to tell you about this wonderful book. American Wife is going to be "the" book of the fall & holidays, I suspect. It has a very timely subject matter, with this being an election year & the Conventions being in the news the last couple of weeks.

American Wife is the story of Alice Lindgren, the only child of Democrats. Her child was pretty typical of most Wisconsin girls in the 50's & 60's. Until one night when she was a Junior in high school. A tragic accident set forth a series of events that would haunt Alice for the rest of her life.

Alice was 31 and prepared to live the rest of her life alone when she met Republican Congressional hopeful Charlie Blackwell at a friend's BBQ. He was incorrigible & charming & the man she would spend the rest of her with. From Wisconsin to the White House, American Wife takes us on a journey of an American Political family.

The similarities to the Bush family are certainly recognizable. Charlie Blackwell buying the Milwaukee Brewers, for example. Yet there is enough of a difference, that there won't be a lawsuit. The Blackwells are from Wisconsin, not Texas. And there are a few things in Alice's past that would certainly cause some tongues to wag. I will the first to admit that I don't know much about Laura Bush's childhood, but I guess it is possible that some of the story could be true. Shocking, but true.

American Wife is a well written book. I will admit that I was disappointed that it was after 400 pages when the Blackwell's finally moved to the White House. I was hoping to read more about life in the White House. I know it would have been a little more speculative, but American Wife is fictional, not biographical.

American Wife is an excellent book, that I see as being the book club book that everyone reads in November. Or better yet, January for the inauguration. It is well written, well thought out book that will generate hours of discussions at book clubs for months to come.