Though I read “Prep” many years ago I really enjoyed it and was excited to see what else Sittenfeld had up her sleeve. This novel, loosely based on the life of First Lady Laura Bush, is a fictional memoir of Alice Blackwell, wife of the sitting president Charlie Blackwell.
Beginning on “what might become one of the most significant days in her husband’s presidency,” Alice reflects on all the steps, and missteps, that have shaped her life and gotten her to this moment.
Overall I enjoyed this story but I found it structurally uneven. Most of the book is her life preceding Charlie and the early days of their marriage and only the last bit covers the presidency, with little build-up. I would have liked to had more of the story dedicated to campaigning for the White House and maybe less from the early years because it did drag some in the middle.
I found this a compelling read and I’m definitely now interested in researching Laura Bush to see just how much intersection there is between fact and fiction.
