Okay. So I have admittedly not yet finished reading American Wife. I fully intend to finish, but I have some thoughts and I have some quiet time as my family is still asleep and I have been awake all night.
First, the story has turned out to be interesting. I feel like Alice is a woman that many women can identify with. The female perspective is often so different from the male perspective. I don't think this adversity between Alice and Charlie is different from most other marriages. Alice has very strong feelings about certain issues. Despite them being different from those of her ultimately very powerful husband, she manages to hold on to those ideals. She has a very philanthropic spirit which I personally find admirable and inspiring. She is dedicated to being a respectable person and despite the life of privelege she is able to provide her daughter she feels compelled to insure that her daughter understands these values.She is able to accept her own faults and failures in life and and takes full responsibility for them even when she is not so much to blame.
I think any woman who has ever been married and genuinely in love with her husband can relate to the feelings she has for Charlie. I often wondered while reading this book whether her feelings were close to reflecting those of Laura Bush. Even though I know it is largely fiction, I would like to think that George W. is close in character to his persona in the book. It makes me feel more sympathetic toward him.
That brings me to thoughts of one's personal legacy. Charlie struggled with this idea. He had such a strong desire to have a greater impact on the world. To feel as though he was something more than ordinary. I think Alice struggled with this too. I don't think she really felt any different. I think she was envious of his ability to indulge himself in these thoughts. She had been forced to relinquish her own quest for a meaningful legacy when she chose to marry Charlie. She says to him during their brief separation, "I Know you've struggled with getting older... I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's such a thing as suffering quietly." She always felt as though she had to make certain sacrifices and that he should be willing to sacrifice as well. And then Mrs. Blackwell opens her eyes to a version of Charlie she had never seen.
One thing I really liked about this book is the many different types of women there were. You had Dorothy and Emilie and Gladys Wycomb. You had Dena the jealous floozy. You had Mrs. Blackwell and the varied sisters-in-law. You had Ruby and Yvonne and then Jessica who turned out to be just remarkable. All of these women who shaped her life and pushed or pulled her in a different direction.And yet the two people that had the greatest impact on her life were the two men, Andrew and Charlie.
Another way I think we can identify with Alice is I believe we all have our own personal tragedies. No matter how big or small, we all feel like we have some source of shame or guilt that must be hidden. Alice allowed her personal tragedy to steer her course for such a large part of her life. I think on some level she never felt like she truly deserved happiness. She always felt guilty for the way her life had worked out.
I struggled with reading this book and as I said before, I still have yet to finish it. I believe this is because of the perspective from which it was written. It is entirely in the first person point-of-view and only in her voice. It seems to be almost monotone. At times I would hear "blah, blah, blah" in my head while reading. I much prefer to hear the voices and perspectives of multiple characters throughout a book to a single perspective.
There, of course, is much more that I could say on several of these topics, but I don't really need to re-write the book for you. I may try to reflect on some of the discussion questions once I'm finished with the reading.
I do hope the next book we choose is a little easier to read.
We have selected David Ebershoff's The 19th Wife for our third Literary Wives read. We'll meet January 7 for dinner and discussion.
