reads on my radar!
In both of her acclaimed and bestselling novels, Prep and The Man of My Dreams, Curtis Sittenfeld demonstrated her deft skill at crafting pitch-perfect portrayals of adolescence. I found both novels compulsively readable and heartbreakingly honest and I had the great privilege of chatting with her last year about them. So it’s no shock that I shamelessly begged, groveled and pleaded with my dear friend at Random House for a galley of her next book. Sittenfeld’s prose is as intensely realistic and compelling as ever in The American Wife, a disarmingly candid and charming novel that takes you on a life journey with a first lady who very much resembles Laura Bush.
About the Book: On what might have been one of the most significant days in her husband’s presidency, Alice Blackwell considers the strange and unlikely path that has led her to the White House—and the repercussions of a life lived, as she puts it, “almost in opposition to itself.” Click here to read more.
I realize that I’m cruel for hand-yelling a book that will be published in September, however, I literally can’t put American Wife down. Alice is sympathetic, complicated, endearing, loyal, reserve, genteel - but she’s a strong woman with a bite who knows when to pick her battles and artfully navigates the duplicitous world of politics, marriage, and feminism. Sittenfeld’s prose is incredibly confident and it’s a story in which you want to gleefully immerse. I’m 3/4 of the way through and I am smitten.
This passes the subway test (read: heavy books I would dare lug on the subway during rush hour). More of my latest picks after the jump!
I have to admit that I’m fairly shameless when it comes to devouring any and all books published about Sylvia Plath - whether it be criticism, biography, novelistic take on her final months, or an in-depth account of the tumultuous relationship between the poet and her husband, Ted Hughes. I found London Times literary editor Wagner’s Ariel’s Gift incredibly compelling. So I was tickled to receive her new novel, Seizure, from the kind folks at Norton.
From Publisher’s Weekly: The primal fear of maternal abandonment is twisted into this insistently dark, atmospheric novel. Janet Ward, in a settled long-term relationship but suffering from dreamlike seizures, is shocked to suddenly inherit a house from her mother—whom she had always believed died when she was three. Upon her arrival at the small seaside stone cottage in the English north, Janet discovers she is not alone: a man named Tom has been given a key of his own. A torrid spell of stories and dreams from the past (an elusive mother, seal-women and demon lovers, journeys across the sea) follows, along with the present reality of Tom and Janet together in the cottage, trying to figure out who they are to one another and why their meeting feels like destiny.
Once I delve in, I’ll give you all the scoop.
Other choice reads on my radar: The 19th Wife David Ebershoff & Happy Family by Wendy Lee.
June 4th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
I’m defintely going to try and snag a copy from a friend!! I’ve been in a book drought for a while and am DESPERATE to escape! This one sounds enticing enough…can’t wait!!
June 5th, 2008 at 8:06 am
I’m so glad to hear a rave about American Wife. I”ve been looking forward to it. I’m trying to console myself about the September release date by staring at my pile of to-be-read books surrounding my desk.
June 6th, 2008 at 8:12 am
[…] ies, grabbing a desperately needed massage, and curling up with the final hundred pages of American Wife. This week has been brutal, exhausting, and difficult and I look forward to quiet.quiet.quiet. […]
June 11th, 2008 at 8:09 am
Just discovered your love of Sylvia Plath in this post. I live in a West Yorkshire village where Ted and Sylvia lived for a while - their old home (Lumb Bank) is now a creative writing centre (see www.arvonfoundation.org) and I can see the churchyard where Sylvia lies buried from my bedroom window. It is beautiful here - come visit if you ever come to England (maybe as a visiting author ?).
June 11th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Cheryl - Lovely to know! Thanks for passing the link along and thanks for popping by. Cheers, f.
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:19 pm
[…] 7;s a slim book and I’m midway through and loving it. If you don’t recall me prattling on about Curtis Sittenfeld’s compulsively readable and terrifically conceived, American Wife, p […]