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Rodham

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Rodham

By: Curtis Sittenfeld
Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin

WHAT IF HILLARY RODHAM HAD TURNED DOWN BILL CLINTON'S PROPOSAL OF MARRIAGE?

‘Awfully opinionated for a girl’ is what they call Hillary as she grows up in her Chicago suburb.

Smart, diligent, and a bit plain, that’s the general consensus. Then Hillary goes to college, and her star rises. At Yale Law School, she continues to be a leader— and catches the eye of driven, handsome and charismatic Bill. But when he asks her to marry him, Hillary gives him a firm No.

The rest, as they say, isn’t history. How might things have turned out for them, for America, for the world itself, if Hillary Rodham had really turned down Bill Clinton?

With her sharp but always compassionate eye, Sittenfeld explores the loneliness, moral ambivalence and iron determination that characterise the quest for high office, as well as the painful compromises demanded of female ambition in a world ruled by men. 

Uncannily astute and witty in the telling, RODHAM is a brilliant reimagining – an unmissable literary landmark and truly a novel of our times.

©2020 Curtis Sittenfeld (P)2020 Penguin Audio Biographical Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Psychological Women's Fiction Biography Witty Thought-Provoking Funny Inspiring Mind-bending
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Critic reviews

‘Startlingly good. One of my favourite writers.’ Kate Atkinson
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This book re-tells the life story of Hillary Rodham based on fact up a "Sliding Doors" moment in 1975 when, instead of marrying Bill Clinton she decides to make her own way in politics. The story is written in the first person and we hear of Hillary's early life where is a confident and self opinionated nine year old from Chicago.

At Yale where she is the brightest year in her year she meets Bill Clinton for the first time and is lured by his water melons. Although Bill is not her first lover she falls for him despite his philandering even in these early years. "Male urges have made a fool of me" says Bill as he is caught by Hillary with yet another woman.

The majority of men run for power because they want to, the majority of women run because someone suggests they should. In the re-imagined story, Hillary takes several years to reach her potential driven by a wish to talk truth to power.

In the somewhat fanciful re-telling of the Hillary story, she runs against Bill Clinton for the Democrat nomination and, as you would expect by now, wins following an endorsement from, of all people Donald Trump. We are entering the world of complete fantasy as Hillary Rodham (she never marries) becomes the first woman President of the United States beating Jed Bush. Some of the imagined "facts" are hilarious, eg Hillary's 23 minute acceptance speech and a strange episode where she asks one of her advisers to shave her legs in the back of a car.

It is no surprise that a book of this type has been published in the year of the US Presidential elections. Apparently the author has penned a similar story based on First Lady Bush. Although strange, it is more entertaining that I expected.

Fanciful re-imagining is "Hillarious" fun

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I ended up engrossed in the book when I really didn’t expect to.

The story was so interesting throughout. It was strange to here fiction about real people, but enjoyable all the same!

Loved it when I did not expect to!

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The best book I have read this year. Truly magnificent. Her best so far in a sterling collection.

Exceptional

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This book is fascinating- for its behind the scenes look at politics in modern America, for its imaginative portrayal of characters in public life who we think we know and perhaps mostly for that “What if” question of how things could have been different.

The narrator is perfect- she seems to speak like Hillary. I keep wondering whether Hillary Clinton has read this book and if so, what she thought of it!

Highly recommended.

Very unusual and stimulating

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I kept forgetting that some parts of this book are fictional. Well written and forces one to think outside the box about what could have happened to Hilary's life.

Really interesting

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