I am disappointed in this book, but up until the last fourth I would have recommended it. Once you get past the sensationalist concept of basing a novel on a loose version of First Lady Laura Bush's life, it's actually very well written, emotive, sympathetic, and fascinating.
But then Sittenfeld inexplicably chooses to jump forward past not just her husband's election to president, re-election, and the beginning of the war but also past the *decision-making* process that led them there. Sittenfeld cheats the reader out of any sort of explanation as to why or how the title character, Alice, and her husband Charlie (the "GWB" character) would jump from Charlie's tentative step into sports team management to re-entering politics, much less to running for president. I can only assume this is due to the author's ignorance of the campaign and/or election process. Perhaps if these were original characters who did not hang from the skeleton of real-life people, this would not be a big deal, but Sittenfeld cannot have it both ways. We either want to see the juicy fictionalized "inside story" or we want a completely independent love story. This book works well (even very well) as the latter, and once I get over my irritation I will still appreciate that about it. But don't go into this expecting historical fiction because from that perspective, this book is a set-up that lacks pay-off.
But then Sittenfeld inexplicably chooses to jump forward past not just her husband's election to president, re-election, and the beginning of the war but also past the *decision-making* process that led them there. Sittenfeld cheats the reader out of any sort of explanation as to why or how the title character, Alice, and her husband Charlie (the "GWB" character) would jump from Charlie's tentative step into sports team management to re-entering politics, much less to running for president. I can only assume this is due to the author's ignorance of the campaign and/or election process. Perhaps if these were original characters who did not hang from the skeleton of real-life people, this would not be a big deal, but Sittenfeld cannot have it both ways. We either want to see the juicy fictionalized "inside story" or we want a completely independent love story. This book works well (even very well) as the latter, and once I get over my irritation I will still appreciate that about it. But don't go into this expecting historical fiction because from that perspective, this book is a set-up that lacks pay-off.
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