American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

A private conscience behind a public marriage

Good Condition - Cover is scuffed and creased, particularly along the front and spine. Pages are tanned but otherwise clean and readable.

Alice Lindgren grows up in a quiet Wisconsin town, a bookish girl whose expectations are transformed by a devastating accident at seventeen. Years later, the reserved school librarian falls for Charlie Blackwell, the exuberant son of a wealthy Republican family, and enters a world far removed from her own. Marriage brings affection, privilege and difficult compromises, especially when Charlie's political career carries them to the White House. As First Lady, Alice must reconcile her loyalty to her husband with beliefs that often conflict with his policies. Curtis Sittenfeld's novel follows an ordinary woman's extraordinary ascent, exploring the intimate negotiations of marriage, the burdens of public life and the uneasy boundary between love, silence and responsibility.