An alternative script to the affairs of state
RODHAM ★★★★ Curtis Sittenfeld Doubleday, £16.99
WHEN Hillary Rodham and Bill Clinton fell in love at law school in 1971, they seemed an unlikely couple to their friends.
She was serious and formidably bright – “the smartest person at Yale”. He was a handsome, charismatic charmer, albeit with political ambitions.
But, despite Clinton’s numerous rumoured affairs along the way, their marriage has lasted for 45 years.
Bill became US president from 1993 to 2001 and Hillary served as US Secretary of State for four years under Barack Obama. But how would their story have turned out if Hillary hadn’t married Bill?
Sittenfeld has already written a compelling novel from the perspective of a world-famous figure. American Wife is loosely based on the life of Laura Bush, wife of former US president George W Bush.
Her Hillary is smitten with Bill from the start but, up until then, she’d dated “guys who were smart but ordinary” so she assumes a man like Bill can’t possibly be interested in her. However, for Bill, Hillary’s intellect marks her out as special.
On their first date, he talks his way into a closed art gallery by telling the security guard he’ll collect the rubbish outside.
Within days, Bill invites Hillary out to a diner where he eats vast quantities of fries and ice cream, then they go back to Hillary’s apartment. Rodham features several fictitious sex scenes, including a startling moment where Bill plays the saxophone naked.
Bill proposes to Hillary several times but she keeps turning him down. However, she agrees to move with him to Arkansas, where they eventually break up because of his “compulsive infidelity”.
Bill marries twice, has two children and makes a failed bid for the White House, while Hillary becomes a law professor and then a senator. By 2015, Bill is a tech billionaire and Hillary, who has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of her fellow Americans and still holds a torch for her first love, must decide whether to run for president.
Sittenfeld is astute about the battles women face. A friend’s father accuses young Hillary of being “awfully opinionated for a girl” and she endures constant criticism of her appearance. But the biggest battle Hillary faces is that of breaking the glass ceiling.
Thought-provoking, compelling and utterly plausible, Rodham offers a fascinating glimpse into an alternative future.