American Wife

Author: Curtis Sittenfeld

Stock information

General Fields

  • : $22.99 AUD
  • : 9780552775540
  • : Random House UK
  • : BLACK SWAN
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  • : 0.43
  • : April 2020
  • : 198mm X 130mm X 42mm
  • : 22.99
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  • : books

Special Fields

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  • : Curtis Sittenfeld
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  • : Paperback
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  • : English
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  • : 643
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Barcode 9780552775540
9780552775540

Description

In the year 2000, in the closest election in American history, Alice Blackwell's husband becomes president of the United States. Their time in the White House proves to be heady, tumultuous, and controversial. But it is Alice's own story - that of a kind, bookish, only child born in the 1940s Midwest who comes to inhabit a life of dizzying wealth and power - that is itself remarkable. Alice candidly describes her small-town upbringing, and the tragedy that shaped her identity; she recalls her early adulthood as a librarian, and her surprising courtship with the man who swept her off her feet; she tells of the crisis that almost ended their marriage; and she confides the privileges and difficulties of being first lady, a role that is uniquely cloistered and public, secretive and exposed. Alice Blackwell, Curtis Sittenfeld has created her most dynamic and complex heroine yet. American Wife is not a novel about politics. It is a gorgeously written novel that weaves race, class, fate and wealth into a brilliant tapestry. It is a novel in which the unexpected becomes inevitable, and the pleasures and pain of intimacy and love are laid bare.

Promotion info

A rich, utterly absorbing, powerful story of how an ordinary girl from an unremarkable town grows up to become the first lady of the USA.

Reviews

"A quietly riveting parable... thought-provoking, entertaining and full of subtle reflections on class and marriage" Daily Mail "Thoroughly enjoyable. The plot is beautifully paced, the writing quick, clear, absorbing... A sweeping saga" The Times "A powerful, utterly compelling and strangely moving fictional account of a First Lady who bears more than a passing resemblance to Laura Bush" Daily Mirror "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" Guardian "My favourite book of the year" Kate Atkinson

Author description

Curtis Sittenfeld is the author of the bestselling novels Prep and The Man of My Dreams. She is a graduate of Stanford University and the Iowa Writers' Workshop.