American Wife

This book took me a month to read.  It was a good read.  I was able to do something I am not very good at, read the story slowly and enjoy it.  Once in awhile I google to see what are considered best books of the year for book clubs to read.  American Wife was in the top ten.  When I started reading the book I did not know it was very loosely based on Laura Bush.  I wish I would have known it when I started the book.  I can see it now.  It did add interest to my reading.
Alice Lindgren was born in the 1940's.  She is a bookish child raised in a home with her parents and grandmother.  There is nothing extraordinary about Alice that would make someone reading the book think she was bound for greatness.  She was considered average. 
When she was seventeen a very tragic car accident shatters her identity and changes the course of her life.  The accident stays a strong focal point in her life.  I do not think I will say it changed the person she would become.  But it did make her face some big decisions which changed her. 
A decade after the accident Alice meets the son of a powerful Republican family and he immediately falls for Alice and sweeps her off her feet.  She finds herself in the world of privilege.
Alice is able to stand up to the strong personality Charlie has when she needs to.  Charlie wants a political life.  He wants to be in the public eye.  Not necessarily for any reason but the prestige that he gained for the offices he held.  Charlie starts out as governor and ends up in the White House for two terms.
The story remains about Alice.  How she compromises her beliefs for Charlie.  It is interesting to know that Alice loves her husband dearly but does not agree with him fundamentally.
This would be a great read for a book club.  Just not for my book club right now.  Everyone is so busy and stressed right now, reading this long book would probably not happen for most of them.  There are good discussion questions at the end of the story.  The book is written by Curtis Sittenfeld.  I do not think I have read anything else he has written.  I might have to look for other books.  I enjoyed the way he developed the characters in the story.  His writing is descriptive without boring me with details.  I am going to give this book a 5.  If you are looking for something to read on a long trip, this would be the book.  You can read a few chapters, put it down and easily pick it up and start reading it again.  It is not a light, summer read.  But it is a great read.