*** As heard on BBC Radio Four's Book Club with James Naughtie***

'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

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.

About the Author
Curtis Sittenfeld is the author of the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling Rodham. Other novels include American Wife and Prep, both bestsellers and longlisted for the Orange Prize, The Man of My Dreams, Sisterland, Eligible, and the acclaimed short story collections You Think It, I'll Say It and Help Yourself. Her stories have appeared in the New Yorker, Esquire, Oprah Magazine and the New York Times magazine. Sittenfeld was also the guest editor for the 2020 Best American Short Stories anthology. She lives with her family in the American Midwest. Follow her on Twitter @CSittenfeld

Reviews
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 *
Superbly well-written - one of the most absorbing books of the year * Evening Standard *
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 *
I was utterly absorbed in this story of a political marriage and a wife who has her own reasons. Curtis Sittenfeld has thrown a powerful light on small town America and its misunderstood values
My favourite book of the year * Kate Atkinson *
A quietly riveting parable... thought-provoking, entertaining and full of subtle reflections on class and marriage * Daily Mail *
A classic story, with a langorous pace and a fierce literary integrity... Sittenfeld has provided a plausible secret history of an American embarrassment - and a grand entertainment
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 * Guardian *
This is one of the finest American novels of 2008 * New Statesman *
Curtis Sittenfeld is an amazing writer, and American Wife is a brave and moving novel about the intersection of private and public life in America. Ambitious and humble at the same time, Sittenfeld refuses to trivialize or simplify people, whether real or imagined
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 * Los Angeles Times *
Vastly entertaining... It is an intelligent, well-crafted, psychologically astute novel * New York Sun *
Weaves fate, family, marriage, wealth and power into an absorbing story * Mail on Sunday *
Utterly brilliant
This engagingly candid First Lady is belssed with so many attractive qualities that her story grips from the very beginning. Full marks to Curtis Sittenfeld * Sunday Telegraph *
Best book: I was on the beach in Croatia recently and it was the one book that quite a few women were lying there reading. It was surreal * Best *
I truly can't believe what a great writer Sittenfeld is, she's fantastic * The Herald *
A deft, funny and revealing story... This clever and convincing portrait of human frailty is a reminder that perhaps none of us is what we might seem. An honest and insightful story of a marriage, and a refreshing take on recent history * Psychologies *
When people ask for book recommendations I often press Curtis Sittenfeld's magnificent third novel, American Wife, into their hands. This loosely fictionalised life of former first lady Laura Bush has a rare and magical combination of accessibility, wit and serious thinking. * The Times *



Book Information
ISBN 9780552775540
Author Curtis Sittenfeld
Format Paperback
Page Count 656
Imprint Black Swan
Publisher Transworld Publishers Ltd
Weight(grams) 440g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 127mm * 38mm