American Wife

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld comes out today, and I was lucky enough to get a copy from an advanced reading program for librarians. At 551 pages, it's long, and I finished it just before the release date! Sittenfeld is the author of Prep, which I absolutely loved, but she also wrote Man of My Dreams, which I had a hard time getting into. Coupling that with the fact that the book is supposed to be a thinly veiled version of Laura Bush's life, I wasn't sure what to expect when I opened it. I found the book to be lush, beautifully written, with a story I was immediately pulled into. Because I am not a political person in general, I read it strictly as a novel--I saw a few parallels, but I don't know enough about Laura Bush's life to know what was made up and what was "true." Those who are highly politicized in either direction might see faults, but in general, I enjoyed this book, and I'm looking forward to see what others think of it.