“This book is a bombshell… Sittenfeld writes women better than anybody else” Bryan Appleyard, SUNDAY TIMES
“This addictive novel is the Sliding Doors of American politics. Gripping” STYLIST
“A wonderful, sad dream of what might have happened” Anne Enright, GUARDIAN
“Hugely enjoyable… a delight” OBSERVER, Book of the Week
‘Awfully opinionated for a girl’ is what they call Hillary as she grows up in her Chicago suburb.
Smart, diligent, and a bit plain, that’s the general consensus. Then Hillary goes to college, and her star rises. At Yale Law School, she continues to be a leader― and catches the eye of driven, handsome and charismatic Bill. But when he asks her to marry him, Hillary gives him a firm No.
How might things have turned out for them, for America, for the world itself, if Hillary Rodham had really turned down Bill Clinton?
With her sharp but always compassionate eye, Sittenfeld explores the loneliness, moral ambivalence and iron determination that characterise the quest for high office, as well as the painful compromises demanded of female ambition in a world ruled by men.
My Thoughts:
Rodham is Curtis Sittenfeld's sixth book and actually the first I have read. I was drawn in to read this due to the sheer premise and how bold it sounded. I found it to be challenging and it took me a long while to read but my goodness what an absolute triumph.
Rodham is a reimagined story of Hillary Rodham's life. A book that explores what happens if she never married Bill Clinton from Arkansas. At the outset Hillary is at college and meets Bill Clinton. Hillary is making quite the name for herself, but Bill Clinton is ambitious too. Does Hillary put aside her dreams and marry Bill Clinton or does she begin to forge her own path?
My knowledge of the American political and legal system is very limited or to be more definitive, non-existent. This did not lessen the impact of this book for me, in fact I found it entirely informative. The concentration is on Hillary Rodham herself and her decisions and life course, an exploration of feminism, ambition and loneliness.
I was incredulous at the way the author has managed to fuse fact and fiction seamlessly and provide a thought provoking and imaginative read, hours and hours of research must have taken place. I really enjoyed the authors writing style, witty and intelligent but leaving just enough scope for the reader to think and feel. This book could have been dry but it by any means wasn't. I found it exhilarating to explore the path not taken.
Rodham is a book to be savoured and a story worth listening to. It is a rich tapestry of a political landscape that never was. I enjoyed the amount of time that I felt like I was alongside Hillary Rodham and had somehow slipped though to an alternative universe.
Bold and spectacular. I loved it.
About the Author:
In addition to Rodham, Curtis Sittenfeld is the author of the Sunday Times
bestseller American Wife, in which she painted a picture of an ordinary
American girl – a thinly-disguised Laura Bush - who found herself married to a
President. It was longlisted for theOrange Prize, as was her debut novel Prep.
Her other books are Man of My Dreams, Sisterland (a Richard & Judy Book
Club pick), Eligible, and the acclaimed short story collection You Think It, I’ll
Say It.
Her books are translated into 30 languages.
She lives with her family in the American Mid-West.
She can be found on Twitter: @csittenfeld or on her website www.curtissittenfeld.com
Please do have a look at some of the other stops on the blog tour.
Thanks so much for the blog tour support Leah xx
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