As a
teenager, Alice Lindgren ran a stop sign in her family's car and inadvertently
killed one of her classmates. While no charges were filed, Alice never escaped
the feeling that the accident, resulting in the death of a boy she might have
loved, put her life on a new, wrong course. Her new path included marrying
Charlie Blackwell and becoming involved with his family, a wealthy, influential
clan whose patriarch once ran for president. Charlie is exuberant but immature,
susceptible to drink and feelings of inadequacy; while Alice is drawn to his
openness, she struggles with his irresponsibility and selfishness. Eventually,
Charlie's obsession with legacy leads him to a political career, which could
potentially put his inexperience under the pressures of the highest office in
the land.
All
this may sound a little familiar. In her note at the beginning of American
Wife, Curtis
Sittenfeld writes that her novel was "inspired by the life of an American
First Lady," but even without the note, only the most culturally ignorant
would fail to recognize the outline of Laura Bush peeking through the pages.
There's the tact, the compassion without intensity, and, of course, the obvious
presence of George W. Throughout, Stittenfeld pulls no punches, but refuses to
pass direct judgment on her heroine. Alice narrates the novel, and her calm,
mannered prose expresses Wife's conflict: When the fault lines in the Blackwells' marriage
become magnified over a nation, what responsibility does she have, to her
husband and to herself?
Attempting
to get into the mind of prominent public figures, especially ones still
embroiled in as much controversy as the Bushes, is problematic. A fictionalized
protagonist can be easily conflated with its all-too-real counterpart, turning
the story into something less than its own. Sittenfeld doesn't entirely solve
the problem; the political bent of American Wife's final section, while currently
relevant, makes the narrative feel dated, taking the focus away from character
in order to score a few easy points. Wife works best when reconciling how one person can love
someone else for his or her limitations while still dreading how those
limitations affect the world; its greatest success is in earning a measure of
sympathy for its heroine without ever ignoring her guilt.