{"product_id":"9781588367532","title":"American Wife","description":"On what might become 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.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e A kind, bookish only child born in the 1940s, Alice learned the virtues  of politeness early on from her stolid parents and small Wisconsin hometown. But  a tragic accident when she was seventeen shattered her identity and made her understand  the fragility of life and the tenuousness of luck. So more than a decade later, when  she met boisterous, charismatic Charlie Blackwell, she hardly gave him a second look:  She was serious and thoughtful, and he would rather crack a joke than offer a real  insight; he was the wealthy son of a bastion family of the Republican party, and  she was a school librarian and registered Democrat. Comfortable in her quiet and  unassuming life, she felt inured to his charms. And then, much to her surprise, Alice  fell for Charlie.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e As Alice learns to make her way amid the clannish energy and smug  confidence of the Blackwell family, navigating the strange rituals of their country  club and summer estate, she remains uneasy with her newfound good fortune. And when  Charlie eventually becomes President, Alice is thrust into a position she did not  seek–one of power and influence, privilege and responsibility. As Charlie’s tumultuous  and controversial second term in the White House wears on, Alice must face contradictions  years in the making: How can she both love and fundamentally disagree with her  husband?  How complicit has she been in the trajectory of her own life? What should she do  when her private beliefs run against her public persona?\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e In Alice Blackwell, \u003ci\u003eNew  York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author Curtis Sittenfeld has created her most dynamic and  complex heroine yet. American Wife is a gorgeously written novel that weaves class,  wealth, race, and the exigencies of fate into a brilliant tapestry–a novel in which  the unexpected becomes inevitable, and the pleasures and pain of intimacy and love  are laid bare.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Curtis Sittenfeld's \u003ci\u003eSisterland.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003cu\u003ePraise for\u003ci\u003e American Wife\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/u\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “Curtis Sittenfeld is an amazing writer,  and \u003ci\u003eAmerican Wife\u003c\/i\u003e is a brave and moving novel about the intersection of private and  public life in America. Ambitious and humble at the same time, Sittenfeld refuses  to trivialize or simplify people, whether real or imagined.” \u003cbr\u003e –Richard Russo\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “What  a remarkable (and brave) thing: a compassionate, illuminating, and beautifully rendered  portrait of a fictional Republican first lady with a life and husband very much like  our actual Republican first lady’s. Curtis Sittenfeld has written a novel as impressive  as it is improbable.”\u003cbr\u003e –Kurt Andersen","brand":"Random House Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47147398070512,"sku":"9781588367532","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781588367532_p0.jpg?v=1763807735","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781588367532","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}