Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of American Wife

American Wife
American Wife
Author: Curtis Sittenfeld
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Paperback
kdurham2813 avatar reviewed on + 753 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


An interesting read that after a day of reflection, I still find myself not absolutely enjoying this book. A piece of fiction loosely based on Laura Bush's life, but at times felt not so loose and not so fiction.

A story of a woman from a small town who ends up married to the President of the United States. In her younger years, she causes an accident killing a classmate and has an abortion at a very young age. While her future mate is working for the family company and drinking away his days. They meet, fall in love and marriage follows soon after. Unlike the Bush family, they have a child quickly. Although like the Bushs, he purchases a baseball team, leaves the family business and then gets into politics.

For my thoughts - this is the first time I have read a book that is loosely based on a real person and I have read her biography. If I pitted the two books against each other, I would hand her biography off to anyone I passed. I guess I am just not a fan of books where I am unsure as to whether it truly happened to the person. I either want true fiction or true story.