Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld

Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld
Published by Random House ISBN 9780399590917
Hardcover, $28, 415 pages

Some of the most interesting books are written by people who ask the question "What if?" Phillip Roth's The Plot Against America asks "what if Charles Lindbergh becomes President and turns America towards fascism?". (It's been turned into an HBO miniseries.)

In her new book Rodham, author Curtis Sittenfeld asks the question, "what if Hillary Rodham never married Bill Clinton?" It's a daring book, one that takes factual events and blends them with fiction. Sittenfeld previously wrote American Wife, a novel based on the life of Laura Bush, where her main character was not Laura Bush, but a character with a different name. Hillary Clinton is so famous, or infamous depending on which media you follow, that a fictionalized version of her is possible.

In Rodham, we recognize the third grader who is asked to be in charge of the class when the teacher leaves the room because many of us were that girl too. We recognize the ten year-old girl who, when she opined about the Cubs versus the White Sox's chances, was told that "you're awfully opinionated for a girl". That statement stayed with her for the rest of her life.

This Hillary is diligent, a hardworker, a good student, and ambitious. Like her real-life counterpart, she graduated from Wellsley and gave a commencement speech that challenged convention and angered her "sarcastic, exacting and often mean" father.

This Hillary met Bill Clinton at Yale Law School, where she fell in love with him, much to the consternation of her best friend. Bill Clinton dated a lot of women and planned on going back to his home in Arkansas to run for Attorney General. Hillary's friends did not want her to leave behind all of the opportunities she had ahead of her for a shining career.

In real life, Hillary did follow Bill to Arkansas. In Rodham, Hillary does not marry Bill after catching him cheating on her. (Note to readers- this fictionalized Bill Clinton is not a nice guy.) The breakup crushes Hillary, but she eventually moves on, and has a stellar career of her own.

Rodham is divided into three sections- The Catch, The Woman, The Front-Runner. I found the last two sections, particularly The Front-Runner, most fascinating. Watching this Hillary fulfill her dreams and ambitions, and eventually run for political office is intriguing. How Sittenfeld ties it all up is just genius and so satisfying.

Sittenfeld has written a thought-provoking feminist novel that will talked about for a long time. It's a great book club pick, there is so much here to discuss over wine and appetizers. (I will warn you that there are some explicit sex scenes in here that may not be for everyone.) I highly recommend Rodham, but realize that this is fiction, not reality. This will be one of the books of summer 2020.

Friday 5ive- April 24, 2020

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention during the week. In my quest to work on a small project a day, today's task was finding a place for a set of golf clubs and a new golf push cart. In a small NYC apartment that was a challenge, but hey, I have a lot of time on my hands, right?


1)  Even though the weather has been colder than usual for April, we do have signs of spring. We took a walk on Sunday and found some welcome sights of lovely flowers to brighten our day.

2)  The only place I go to on a regular basis is the laundry room in our building. I go at 6:45am and I'm the only there. Items that have been found in the machines are tacked up on a bulletin board. This week I saw this tacked up on there and have to wonder if the person who lost their "Here Comes The Madness" underwear will ever claim it. It's been a week and so far no takers. At least it give us all a well-needed chuckle.  

3) We are all starved for live musical entertainment so it was great to watch a concert that was filmed in January before we all had to social distance from each other. CBS televised Let's Go Grazy: A Grammy Salute to Prince and it was fantastic. They had great performances from  H.E.R and Gary Clark Jr. (Let's Go Crazy), Sheila E (The Glamorous Life), Beck (Raspberry Beret), Princess, featuring Maya Rudolph, (Delirious) and the great Mavis Staples with the Revolution (Purple Rain). The best concert I ever saw was Prince during his Purple Rain tour, and who can forget his Super Bowl concert when he played in the pouring rain? If you missed it, the link is here. Be prepared to dance. 

4) I'm missing getting to attend book signings and hearing authors talk about their books, and this week I watched two Facebook Lives with Adriana Trigiani talking to Erik Larson about his Winston Churchill book, The Splendid and the Vile, and Colum McCann speaking about his novel Apeirogon, about two fathers, one Israeli and one Palestinian, who each lost a daughter. Both discussions were so fascinating and made me immediately go online to a local indie bookseller to order both books. If you like smart, interesting conversations about a wide range of topics, go to Adriana Trigiani's Facebook page here and watch them. Erik Larson here, and Colum McCann here. 

5) I read three books this week. Melissa Hill's The Summer Villa, about three young women who meet when they share a vacation villa in Positano, Italy. It will take you away and there were a few interesting twists that I didn't see coming. I enjoy being surprised. My full review posts Monday. 

The Secrets of Love Story Bridge is a wonderful novel by Phaedra Patrick about a lonely young widower with a 10 year-old daughter who rescues a woman who fell off a bridge. When the woman disappears after that, he becomes involved with the family in trying to help find her. I enjoyed Patrick's The Library of Lost and Found, and this one was just as good. She writes lonely people so well. My full review publishes next Wednesday. 

I also read an early review copy of Curtis Sittenfeld's novel Rodham, which poses the question what if Hillary Rodham never married Bill Clinton? It's an intriguing concept, and I liked the last half of the story better than the first. Sittenfeld also wrote American Wife, which was a fictionalized account of the life of a woman very similiar to Laura Bush. I'm curious to know why Sittenfeld didn't use a fictional character to represent Hillary Clinton, as she did with Laura Bush. You have to remember that this is fiction, not nonfiction, although she weaves in many factual events into the book in a clever manner. My full review will post soon.

I hope you all stay safe, stay healthy and stay home.

Three Books About Siblings

Reprinted from the Citizen:

While summer is often time to read a light summer romance, this season seems to be a time for books about siblings. For those of us lucky enough to have siblings, we will be able to relate to the complicated, caring relationships the siblings in the following three books.

Curtis Sittenfeld’s “Eligible” is a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s “Pride & Prejudice”. The names are the same, but the setting is different; this Bennet family- mother, father and five sisters- resides in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

After Mr. Bennet has a heart attack, oldest sisters Jane (a yoga instructor) and Liz (who writes for a fashion lifestyle magazine) leave New York City to help out at home. Mrs. Bennet is chairing a very important fundraiser and can’t care for her husband on her own.

Apparently neither can the three adult sisters who still live at home: Mary, who is working on her third online post-graduate degree, and Lydia and Kitty, who spend all their time at the Cross Fit studio. Liz comes home to find that the house is in disrepair and since her parents don’t have health insurance, Mr. Bennet’s medical bills necessitate the sale of the family home.

Liz is the one who has to figure all of this out, and things get complicated when she meets Dr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, a newly ensconced surgeon at the local hospital. He is openly hostile to Liz, but as we all know, that means he has feelings for her.

“Eligible” is a love story, but for me, the family relationships, especially the sibling relationships, are the more interesting elements of the story. Mr. Bennet, whose dry wit made me laugh out loud, and Mrs. Bennet, who exasperates over her daughters’ lack of suitable suitors, seem to be waiting for Liz to take care of everything, even while resenting her efforts. And Liz has to kick a little sibling behind to get the Bennets’ house in order.

It is funny, charming and sweet, and if you like the TV show “The Bachelor” you will enjoy how that show plays into this modern storyline. 

Emily Giffin is known for her women’s fiction, but her latest novel, “First Comes Love” is about a sibling relationship. Adult sisters Josie, a single preschool teacher, and Meredith, a married corporate lawyer with a young daughter, have a close, but at times strained, relationship. 

When they were in college, their beloved brother Daniel was killed in a tragic car accident and it devastated the family. Their father had a drinking problem and their parents divorced. His death affects them all still to this day.

Josie envies her sister’s happy marriage to Daniel’s best friend Nolan, and their beautiful little girl. When Josie’s former boyfriend’s young daughter ends up as a student in her first grade class, Josie begins to question whether she will ever have a happy marriage and children like Meredith.

Since a husband isn’t on the horizon but her 40th birthday is, Josie decides to have a baby on her own. Meredith thinks this is a selfish decision, and she begins to question her own choices, especially quitting acting to become a lawyer and marrying Nolan.

“First Comes Love” deals with some serious issues- giving up a lifelong dream, how loss affects people in different ways, how secrets can destroy a relationship- through the prism of the sibling relationship between Josie and Meredith. Giffin does a wonderful job with a more serious subject matter and her fans will be pleased with this effort.

Ann Leary’s “The Children” is set in Connecticut. When Whit Whitman dies, he leaves behind his second wife Joan, her two adult daughters Sally and Charlotte, and two adult sons from his first marriage, Spin and Perry. 

He leaves his family’s long-held estate to his sons, with the provision that Joan be allowed to live there until her death. Charlotte is reclusive, rarely leaving the home. She is also a famous “Mommy Blogger”, which is odd because she has no children.

Her blog makes very good money, and no one has yet figured out that her husband and children are figments of her imagination, and she feels she isn’t hurting anyone. She believes she provides entertainment for mothers who read her blog.

When Spin brings his new fiancee Lauren home, something about her makes Charlotte and Sally suspicious of her motives. Again, the relationships among the siblings are the strongest parts in this terrific novel that draws us into the world of the Whitmans.

“Eligible” by Curtis Sittenfeld- A

Published by Random House

Hardcover, $28, 500 pages

“First Comes Love” by Emily Giffin- B+

Published by Penguin Random House

Hardcover, $28, 400 pages

“The Children” by Ann Leary- A-

Published by St. Martin’s Press

Hardcover, $26.99, 246 pages