"All I did was was marry him. You are the ones who gave him power."
I just finished reading "American Wife" by Curtis Sittenfeld. I have read all of Ms. Sittenfeld's novels and found her first two "Prep" and "Man of My Dreams" to be pulpy, neurotic, fun. The characters were flawed in a way that I could relate to. Alice Blackwell is a much different character and "American Wife" is a much different book that Sittenfeld's previous efforts.
"American Wife" is a fictional portrayal of the life of former first lady Laura Bush. There are a number of similarities between the life of Alice Blackwell and Ms. Bush. Each of the four parts of the book are broken up to the address where Blackwell lived, her childhood home, her single person apartment, her first home with her husband, and the White House. Parts one through three in, my so humble opinion, are well written and page turning. They lay out a life of a person a think I would like to spend time with. Alice Blackwell is a smart, compassionate, proud woman who because a happy wife and mother. Part 4 however deviates from this formula.
In the fourth part of this novel Alice Blackwell changes her fundamental philosophy of marriage and her life. It is quite unbelievable. During Bush's reelection campaign I remember having a sharp debate with my fellow progressives about Ms. Bush's complicity for her husband's actions. My debating opponents seemed to take a stance very similar to Ms. Sittenfeld's, that Ms. Bush loves her husband but strongly disagrees with him politically and probably suffers an amazing amount of guilt for her complicity with his actions. My friends and Ms. Sittenfeld's proof for theses statements are Ms. Bush's clear intelligence. I disagreed then and I disagree now. Ms. Bush is intelligent, knew what she was doing at every point in her adult life. She didn't stand with her husband because of some antiquated "stand by your man" notion. It is too easy an out for her. We all agree that she made her bed, but I believe that she has no problem at all sleeping in it. This was not a change in her fundamental philosophy, it is her fundamental philosophy her whole life. It is a bad philosophy but one so many people, especially women adopt.
Overall, I would say "American Wife" is a thoughtful read. If you are in love with W. you may not like part 4. But if you aren't, read this section with a critical eye none-the-less.
I would tend to agree with you. She's a "proper southern lady" from a rich family. Of couse she knows what comes with the territory in regards to money and power. Plus, she killed someone. So clearly her moral conscious had the potential to sleep next to one of the most evil men in recent history.
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