Imprint: Black Swan
Published: 02/07/2009
ISBN: 9780552775540
Length: 656 Pages
Dimensions: 198mm x 38mm x 127mm
Weight: 440g
RRP: £9.99
'Honest, wonderful and smart as hell' Guardian
'Curtis Sittenfeld is in a league of her own' Observer
All I did is marry him. You are the ones who gave him power.
Quiet, bookish Alice Blackwell never dreamed of being First Lady. Much less to a President whose politics she doesn't believe in. On perhaps the most important day of her husband's presidency, Alice looks back on the strange and unlikely path that led her to the White House, and to a decision - both treacherous and long overdue - that could jeopardise everything.
Taking inspiration from real life, American Wife is a remarkable portrait of a woman caught between her feelings for her husband, her country, and herself.
'My favourite book of the century' HADLEY FREEMAN, GUARDIAN
Imprint: Black Swan
Published: 02/07/2009
ISBN: 9780552775540
Length: 656 Pages
Dimensions: 198mm x 38mm x 127mm
Weight: 440g
RRP: £9.99
Such an accomplished work of fiction... a thoughtful and compelling examination of the mechanics of family and marriage... Knowing and knowledgeable, yet also inventive and original, American Wife is a thrilling combination of history and surprises
Superbly well-written - one of the most absorbing books of the year
Thoroughly enjoyable. The plot is beautifully paced, the writing quick, clear, absorbing... A sweeping saga
A powerful, utterly compelling and strangely moving fictional account of a First Lady who bears more than a passing resemblance to Laura Bush
My favourite book of the year
A quietly riveting parable... thought-provoking, entertaining and full of subtle reflections on class and marriage
American Wife is easily one of the best books written so far this century. It is honest, wonderful and smart as hell, the kind of book that you try to eke out to make it last as long as possible
This is one of the finest American novels of 2008
The scope and detail of American Wife are reminiscent of Richard Russo. Like Russo, she creates characters from the ground up, ancestry, neighborhood, culture and all... Her characters are carefully rendered and the story is well-constructed
Vastly entertaining... It is an intelligent, well-crafted, psychologically astute novel