I was really looking forward to this and was excited by the premise. What if Hillary Rodham hadn’t married Bill Clinton?

Unfortunately this one wasn’t working for me and I’m going to DNF. There are a lot of details that feel unnecessary and less of a true sense of Hillary that I hoped for. I appreciate the concept but the execution fell short for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the free review copy.

I was hoping this book would be more interesting than it was. It was a reimagining of Hillary's life, but it was still so centered around Bill. I wish they made her life like a "what could it have been?" but without Bill, she kept missing him and it was just so sad. I wish the author had done more with the story than make her missing Bill pretty much the whole time. Unfortunate story choice.

If ever there was a prime candidate for my "elusive" shelf this book is it. Curtis Sittenfeld is an author well trafficked in what I think of as "what might have been" fiction. Whether she's setting the cast of Pride and Prejudice in 2019 or reimagining the life of Barbara Bush in American Wife she seems endlessly fascinated by the what if's in fictional and real worlds.

In the case of Rodham its a reimagining of the life of Hillary Clinton had she passed on the opportunity to ever become Hillary Clinton. Sittenfeld instead gives us a world where Hillary says no to Bill's passionate proposals of marriage and instead begins a long and storied life as a career politician.

There's something deeply weird about this book. I can't entirely put my finger on what that is. It's partly getting my arms around the idea that this a fictional alternate autobiography of a living person I admire. Reading pretty graphic descriptions of her sex life is a bit like hearing your mom talk about doing it with you dad.

There's also the matter of Sittenfeld's writing which is, as it always is, superb. She has an uncanny ability to capture whatever kind of voice she wants for her narrator completely perfectly. I'm not kidding you can literally hear Hillary Clinton in your head when you read this. But again that uncanniness is unsettling somehow.

Then there's the timing. Let's face it, it's a rough time to get a work of fiction about a future with this kind of Hillary. It's hard to get to see so realistically what that world might have looked like, what it might have done for the country, for the way we see and treat women had she forged her own path without Bill. Sittenfeld so completely nails the misogyny Hillary and our country are mired in that the reader's longing for her to overcome it and win is almost palpable. I very much wanted all her victories to be real and had to keep reminding myself that this was a work of fiction.

We're staring directly into the face of some very hard truths about our country right now. Truths that have existed for hundreds of years that for some reason we (primarily meaning white Americans) were strangely content to acknowledge might be kinda serious but not serious enough to do anything about. It's that complacency that troubles me the most. Ignorance can be understood as, well, ignorance. You can educate ignorance. Complacency is harder to explain away and impossible to justify. I mean what can you say? Sorry we all kind of knew it sucked but we were just really busy?

It's hard to look at the world Sittenfeld's Hillary lives in because fictional or not it IS our world. A world where an educated, dedicated public servant can be reviled and degraded and laughed at simply because she's a woman. Where she can do all the same things that the men around her do, want the same kind of success, deserve the same kind of success and be told she's too manlike or that she just doesn't understand her role.

People still think this way. People still think a woman's place is raising children and baking cookies and that we can't control the nuclear weapons because WWIII will surely start the second a female president goes on the rag.

While ultimately triumphant there's a terrible thread of sadness and unrealized dreams that run through the narrative of this book. The idea that a woman will always have to choose between a career and a family and that she'll be vilified no matter what she decides is so damn absurd but so hard to let go of in our country for some reason. It's hard, even in a fictional context, to be reminded of that. Hillary's success comes at a cost that the men around her don't have to pay and that's a truth any woman who tries to succeed in a world dominated by men faces again and again and again.

"Rodham" by Curtis Sittenfeld is a book that can easily be loved or hated as the person that it was inspired by. With Rodham herself as the inspiration of the story, I was excited to see how the author would present her. The question behind the book is what Hillary's life would be like if she never met Bill Clinton. With this question in mind you would think that this book would focus entirely on Hillary and less on her relationship with Bill... false. I hoped this book would respect the accomplishments that the real Rodham has made today and highlight how the negativity from her marriage would not truly impact the work she would do. Instead, the book made it seem that if Hillary never married Bill, she would never have children, her love life would be difficult, and she would struggle to have career she desired (always battling to be outside of Bill's shadow). Can't women have both success and romance? I found the topic of this book a bit frustrating because it brought down the real Hillary's decision to stay with her husband and regardless if the book is about Hillary, it felt incredibly male focused.

With all of that said, the author's writing is well done and the book reads quickly. The book was original and creative and I would recommend it to readers who like Rodham, just with a fair warning.

I enjoyed the first half better than the second half. I didn't really understand including Trump as a character other than a wink to what actually happened. He seemed unnecessary to the narrative.

I read and enjoyed Ms. Sittenfeld's, American Wife, which was about a fictional Laura Bush.  It felt so true and believable.  So I was excited to learn that the author had written another story based in politics, this one about Hillary Rodham.

The first section of the book reportedly stays pretty close to what really happened, with Hillary meeting and becoming involved with the charismatic Bill when they were students at Yale Law.  It is, in part in this section, a story of a young woman who always felt smart but not always attractive. Hillary here was fiery and committed, just as she had been in her college graduation speech. This continued in the work that she did for children and families while at Yale.  Any woman or girl growing up who feels that being labeled "smart" was a mixed blessing will understand the fictional Hillary's feelings and surprise that "someone like Bill" was interested in her.

Post graduation, Hillary and Bill live in Arkansas in this novel with Hillary becoming a law school professor and Bill beginning his steps into politics. No spoiler after the publicity for this novel...but Hillary chooses not to stay with Bill.  She is uncomfortable with his inability to commit to just one intimate relationship.  So...what happens to Hillary after striking out on her own makes up the rest of the novel.

Hillary initially returns to Chicago where she teaches at Northwestern and over time becomes interested in running for office around the time of the Clarence Thomas hearings.  I won't say more but leave it to readers to find out what happens.  Would this life have been preferable for Hillary?  It is something to think about.  Clearly the choices that we make impact how our lives unfold.  Readers will no doubt contemplate that as they read discover where the author's imagination takes them.

The reviews that I have seen for this novel have been mixed. I am in the camp that is glad to have read the book.


Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

Rodham was a bit of a struggle for me. I was a big fan of American Wife in Sittenfeld's ability to imagine a fictional Laura Bush-esque character's inner life, emotions, and motivations. Because we know so much more about Hillary Rodham Clinton, this real-person-fic of her life had she not married Bill often felt quite strange and forced. Solid on policy, dreadful sex writing, and the weird twists of history got a bit distracting at the end. Some of the most interesting parts of the book were hints at the ways white upperclass feminism had limits, and advances for white women often came at the expense of black women. I wish that had been a bigger part of the narrative. Instead, it was an interesting and occasionally self-congratulatory read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Curtis Sittenfeld is a hit or miss author for me, but I really enjoyed Rodham. The premise of what if Hillary Rodham hadn't married Bill Clinton was so interesting. I found Sittenfeld's writing engaging and the the reimagining of Hillary's life exhilarating. I loved the glimpses we get into Hillary's past and the way she sees herself.

A deep dive into a parallel universe where Hillary Rodham never marries Bill Clinton. I throughly enjoyed the beginning of their courtship in this novel, but as the story went on Hillary’s personality became non-existent and the story itself, long-winded.

The author initially does a wonderful job bringing attention to women’s issues, but I felt that begin to unravel towards the end with appearances from Donald Trump and later interactions with Bill.

It’s certainly an interesting take on what could have been with feminist undertones. I suppose I just wish it were more feminist forward instead of teetering along the middle.

I found the premise of this book so interesting. It is a story of "what ifs" What if Hillary Rodham had not married Bill Clinton? I am sure it is a question that many women ponder sometime in their lifetime. What if your life had taken another path? The story begins when Hillary meets Bill at Yale Law School. It delves deeply into their attraction to each other and their romantic relationship. In this version of Hillary's life, she turns down his marriage proposal and her life takes an entirely different path. It follows her through her political career and personal life. It was fascinating how the fictional account of her life was woven into actual historical events. It gives the reader a behind the scenes look at politics. The story includes the highs of achievement and power as well as the loneliness and painful criticism endured while running for office. The story really shines a light on the challenges and compromises that are unique to women. It is not a page turner with lots of action. However if really kept my attention.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit although it was an odd experience to read about a woman whose adult live was lived so publicly and often intimately. I think this book would've worked better as a third person POV or an omniscient POV. As I read, I heard Hillary's voice and often times couldn't imagine her saying some of the things she said. I'm sure the author did research to provide an accurate account of her history, so I went with it.
This book did make me google and research some of the players mentioned in the novel. I enjoyed that aspect as well a I learned some new things!

I've tried several times with Curtis Sittenfield. Maybe I want to like her writing more than I actually ever do- I'm not sure I'm up for another try after this, although I'm still curious about Prep.

So, much like American Wife was a thinly fictionalized book about Laura Bush, this is a fictionalized book about a not-at-all-disguised Hilary Rodham-Clinton. I was a bit uneasy about this going in. Hilary Clinton has had more than her share of shit directed at her, and fictionalizing her life (along with her sex life with Bill) felt like it was maybe crossing a line. Should a fiction book be written about a currently living celebrity? Would I like this any better if it was Melania Trump? Hm, maybe I would, so maybe my biases are showing. But you can't deny that a novel about Melania Trump and her husband and stepchildren could be quite entertaining.

Anyway, I got through the first part of the book, which details how Hilary met Bill, how they fell in love and slept together (I felt a bit prurient reading this) and how they (unlike in real life) broke up after she found out about an infidelity. In the closing of the first part of the book, Hilary muses how "it could have gone either way" about her decision to break up with Bill instead of sticking it out.

I never felt like I was really reading in the voice of Hilary Rodham Clinton in this part of the book. The characterization felt artificial. I couldn't "believe" in the character, and I found that I was continually evaluating "would Hilary have done this? Would she say this?" and often I felt the answer was no. Right around this time I read "Becoming" by Michelle Obama (please DON'T write a book about her, Curtis Sittenfeld!!!) and it was a much more engrossing and genuine account of what it's like to serve in a public office in the public eye. The author just couldn't pull off drawing me into the story.

Then I skimmed. The book jumped far into the future, into the 90's, and into Hilary deciding to enter the presidential race. Again, Hilary felt far too politically naive to pull off a campaign like this. Also, she didn't seem to have much of a life. Although the author made attempts at giving her a sense of humor and some humanity, she again never jumped off the page for me. Sadly, in all this time, Hilary has never married and has become convinced that men don't like smart women and so she'll only turn off any man. While it's true that there are quite a few men like this, there are quite a few men who aren't, and this essential insecurity is very sad- this very capable woman who thinks she can win the presidency doesn't think she can even persuade a man to have a relationship with her? How do these things work together? Wouldn't it have been interesting if she'd found a man who could live up to her?

As an aside, on top of what I think is the author's unfairness in not allowing even a fictional Hilary to have any sort of relationship for most of the book, I think it would have been a sinker for her campaign. I can't think of any truly powerful political figures offhand who are not married- male or female. It seems like it's somehow become a condition of anyone who wants to get anywhere politically- why, I don't know. But I think that this fictional Hilary would have been a sitting duck for her Republican opponents, who could have painted her as anti-family, out of touch with everyday America, and possibly gay ( which would be enough to ensure that pretty much no Republicans or conservative Christian voters would go for her). Sadly, I think that Hilary would have needed a man in her life to become President. The man just couldn't be Bill Clinton. So does she win? Spoilers below:

She does! This, again, felt unbelievable- the description of the campaign didn't give me a feeling that she'd win. Or maybe it's just emblazoned on my brain that in real life she was defeated and I can't let that go. That defeat was really, really hard for me and I suspect for many women. A fictional happy ending for Hilary doesn't make me feel any better- it makes me feel worse, it trivializes the actual defeat, and it makes me hope that the real Hilary Clinton will never read this book (there are a lot of other reasons for this too). In short, I think this book wasn't executed well and that it was basically a bad idea in the first place. I don't know if I trust the author's judgement enough to read anything else by her.

This was decent fanfiction, not great as a novel. The book improves greatly once it splits off from our timeline, the early dialogue between Hillary and Bill was painful, but the later two thirds does a good job of humanizing her.

I enjoyed this book, but also felt trepidation about reimagining a woman’s life based upon her choice of spouse. I also worry that I enjoyed the book because it reinforces my own views about Hillary’s dependence on Bill and his impact on her career. Also, I could have lived without the sex. I’m no prude, but most sex scenes In fiction are poor imitations and those that involve real people are just a bit much.

Received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love the author, was intrigued by the main plot point, and would recommend it to others, but overall, this book didn't work for me and for such a strange reason.

NPR's review helped me find the words to say it -- Sittenfeld captures her subject's voice too well, creating a story that feels too intimate. The cadence and word choice is so pitch perfect that small awkward tics like the repeated use of the phrase "kiss on the lips" seemed so plausible in how HRC sees the world around her and her place in it. To be reading it at this moment in history, in such a different sliding doors scenario, it did not feel comfortable to be living in her fictional skin between these pages and I struggled to explain the discomfort. Haven't we projected enough on this woman? It was too much to read in between stories of such intense voter suppression in Kentucky for just the primaries.

In hindsight, I wish I just read the list of books Sittenfeld includes in her acknowledgements, which I've now added to my endless queue.

An alternative history of a story we all know so well? Very interesting and intriguing. A very enjoyable read that made me wistful for what could have been.

You may like this book or you might not, but one thing many would agree is on the author's powerful imagination and creativity. To come up with the idea of a novel like this one is just out of this world, The first part of the novel goes back to Hillary's college days and the her love relationship with Bill Clinton. In real life, Bill Clinton proposed three times, getting a "yes" until the third try. Not so in this quirky new novel. Part Two re-imagines what Hillary's personal and political life would have been if she had NOT married Bill Clinton. Reading this book was like a roller coaster ride, never expecting what came next. Although I was conscious that I was reading a fictional account, I couldn't help myself from perceiving it as nonfiction.

I recommend this novel mostly for its brilliant creativity than for its content. The going back and forth in time is kind of confusing, and there is certainly too much information about the couples intimate life. Nevertheless, it is a great read for those who see experimental novels.

This was an interesting reimagining of history. What kept me reading was my curiosity about where the author was going to take Hillary's story. It will probably appeal more to fans of Hillary but was well written and entertaining so anyone interested in alternate history or political stories should enjoy it.

I must say that I was quite disappointed in the author's latest book. I've enjoyed her previous writing when she employed her historical fiction technique. However, what might have been a fascinating, insightful delving into a fascinating personality resembled more of a degrading, silly look into her subject's life.
Readers must always remember that when stories contain history-altering plots, they are just that. However, the revisionist tales in this book seemed too far-fetched and unbelievable.

I really wanted to love this book, but I was expecting something different. The entire book revolved around the shadow of having dated Bill Clinton, which kind of felt like her story was second to his. I did appreciate the highlighting of how much harder women are judged daily in comparison to men. This felt like a political rerun of Hilary's life, but with jabs for choosing her career over marriage and kids. In an alternate universe, having her as a our President is fantastic. Overall, I liked it, but did not love it. I just can't get over how much emphasis was put into her love life with the insinuation that she wasn't complete without a partner despite all her professional accomplishments.