What to read first on holiday ? This was a good choice - not great writing but quite a page turner. Shame that Alice was such a flaky character for most of the story. I should have guessed from the title that she would be. Found her compliance quite irritating towards the end. Though she did have some integrity, not sharing her abortion secret ( because she was let off the hook ) and also the toilet / wrong door story (pretending she had been) made me lose any respect I might have had. She was clever enough to be a lot more ballsy and should have run in the opposite direction from her future husband's politics and his godawful family right after that first meeting. Kick started me to read like I used to on holiday and romped through its 635 pages. So successful on that count I have a limit to how much I can read about American culture but Alice's story drew me willingly right in. It has always been a mystery to me that America can elect actors and buffoons to the highest office and I found no answers here, but I was fascinated by the accommodations Alice makes in her marriage while trying to preserve her self identity. The portrait of their love through the stages of life rings so true.
Good read and made me want to learn more about Laura Bush.
—edlynne
Re-read of my favorite Sittenfeld novel (so far!).
—willhearn
Very good characterization but a bit long.
—sweet
Loved it! Couldn't put it down!
—Caramelatte33
too long
—showstopper
