Laura, Through a Novelist's Eyes

"Prep" author Curtis Sittenfeld's latest novel, "American Wife," portrays the life of Alice Blackwell, a thinly veiled Laura Bush. It's all fiction, but major events mirror Bush's life, including a car accident that kills a friend. In this parallel universe, you can be privy to the internal conflicts and steamy bedroom scenes of Laura and George—that is, Alice and Charlie Blackwell. Sittenfeld spoke to NEWSWEEK's Brian No:

NEWSWEEK: Why a novel based on Laura Bush?
Curtis Sittenfeld: Well, I wrote an article for Salon in February 2004 where, because I'm a Democrat, I described my admiration for Laura Bush as the "love that dare not speak its name." In that article I unwittingly wrote that Laura Bush's life is like a novel. A few years passed and I thought, "Oh, it's like a novel that I should actually write."

How much of "American Wife" is fiction?
I would say probably 85 percent of it is fiction. There's nothing I know about the Bushes that the average person couldn't find in a published book.

Some say your book is what liberals hope Laura Bush is actually like.
I don't think my book has a particular agenda. I don't know the inner secrets of Laura Bush, and I don't think it matters that much if she's actually more or less conservative than her husband—especially at this point. I don't think that it's clearly a book for only Democrats or only Republicans. It's more for fiction lovers.

Alice Blackwell seems very suppressed as a female character. What's your philosophy behind that?
I just think that people are complicated, both men and women. It happens that I write more about women. In a lot of ways, ["American Wife" is] a book about marriage, and every marriage involves compromise, and some marriages involve lots and lots of compromise. And I think Alice Blackwell does compromise more than most, but I don't think she's a martyr.

Do you think your novel could be hurtful to the real Laura Bush, especially using the tragic car accident?
Well, I think that if you sincerely try to imagine what life is like for another person—not in a mocking way, not in a satirical way, but in a sincere, compassionate way—I don't think that's exploitive.

There's certainly a lot of sex in "American Wife."
In a thirty-year marriage, it seems very natural for there to be some sex. And I think the book might have seemed a little coy or prude if there hadn't been any.

You describe Charlie in great detail, including all of his private parts. Doesn't that mean you were imagining George W. Bush in bed while you were writing this?
[Laughter]. No, you're imagining the president! I'm able to separate fiction and reality. I guess it remains to be seen if other people are.

Have you heard anything from the White House?
No. I have not heard, and I don't anticipate that I will. I think the Bush family is very busy. I don't think this will necessarily consume a lot of their attention.

So you're not worried about upsetting people?
There are some [who said] that [the book] shouldn't exist. The irony is that even though I'm a Democrat, some other Democrats think the book is overly sympathetic. Some Democrats have said to me that they liked the character of Charlie Blackwell, and they don't want to.

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