I read American Wife
The novel is (somewhat loosely) based on the life of Laura Bush. I had thought that it would be more political (she is married to a former president, after all). But, I thought that its strengths really lie in the interpersonal relationships of the characters. That’s not to say that the book isn’t political, but it has even more to say about how a woman relates to her husband and to her family. Its underlying message about women putting their husbands’ needs before their own is just brought into sharper relief when the woman in question is married to one of the most powerful men in the world.
Much like Janet, I found myself turning to the Internets quite a few times to find out if a particular plot point really did happen. I already knew about Laura Bush killing a high school classmate in a car accident. And anyone who doesn’t know the basic facts of the Bush II presidency has probably been living under a rock or in a cave for the past few years. (Insert lame Osama Bin Laden cave joke here). But there were more than a few moments when I said to myself, “Did that really happen?” The answer was sometimes “yes,” sometimes “no,” sometimes “reply hazy, try again.”
(I refer to my Magic 8 Ball as the internet).
(It’s very confusing).
(Then I headed over to Wikipedia with about the same results).
I thought that the book could be a bit heavy-handed at times, but overall I enjoyed it. That might be because I’m a Democrat, but more likely it’s because it was well-written. At one point, I found myself getting really angry because the main character’s husband was forcing her to defer to him in a family situation. And then I realized that their entire political life was built on her deferring to him on everything. I like a book that can make me think like that – finding parallels and seeing symbolism.
The kind of book that almost makes you wish you were in an actual Book Club.
