Pam's Book 2: American Wife

Before reading this book, the only thing I knew, or thought I knew, about Laura Bush was that she seemed like a pretty classy lady, far classier than her husband. American Wife, a fictionalized account of the former First Lady's life, left me with the same impression.

Alice Lindgren grows up in small-town Wisconson, marries Charlie Blackwell, unwillingly (sort of) becomes the First Lady. The first third of the book describes Alice's single days, including her childhood. The second third is dedicated to the Blackwell marriage. The final third is, of course, about the Blackwell presidency. Something I liked and disliked about this book was that I couldn't make up my mind how I felt about Alice. Some protagonists engender deep feelings in the reader, a passionate admiration (Lizzy Bennet) or a passionate distaste (Scarlett O'Hara). Alice inspired neither in me. I suppose that probably makes her a more realistic figure, but I find this profound ambivalence rather unsettling. Alice is never a very strong character.

From the beginning she is dominated by friends (Dena), family members (her grandmother), boyfriends, husband, and the annoying thing is that she never seems to realize it. I suppose she has some secret reservoir of strength (after all, how else could she survive accidentally killing the love of her teenage life?), but it seems to stem from more from denial than anything else. For example, it takes her years to realize that her husband is an alcoholic ne'er-do-well, and she is shocked to hear her mother-in-law coldly inform her that Charlie had "married up." As soon as she makes up her mind to leave her husband, he finds Jesus and all is forgiven (despite the fact that Alice isn't exactly religious herself). Then, suddenly, she finds herself swept along in her husband's wake as he becomes first the governor and than the president. She has the strength not to vote for him, but is too weak to admit this to anybody. She has the strength to have an abortion as a teenager, but cannot even tell her own daughter, much less the world. She has the strength to admit her stance on the war, but only (ostensibly) in private to a man she doesn't realize will soon tell the world. She also had a face lift, which annoys me to no end. Why can't people learn to age gracefully?

Anyway, after reading the book I was of course curious how much was fact and how much was fiction. Curtis Sittenfeld maintains that 85% is fiction. Laura Bush really did kill a classmate in a car accident. The Bushes really do have a large northeastern retreat. Barbara Bush really is, apparently, or can be, a major bitch. I don't know about the abortion. Many people, including myself, were disturbed by the sex scenes. I have no problem with a well-written, appropriately placed sex scene in general, but imposing the face of "W" onto Charlie Blackwell was more than a little revolting. In an interview with Newsweek, Sittenfeld says, laughing, "No, you're imagining the president! I'm able to separate fiction and reality. I guess it remains to be seen if other people are." (http://www.newsweek.com/id/156938/page/1). Well, guess what, Curtis. If you wanted to write fiction, maybe you should have written 100% fiction. You are the one who has blurred the line between fiction and reality. What do you expect?