Review: Rodham *****

As my daughter Rae put it: “Hillary Clinton Fan Fiction.” A remarkable piece of counter-factual fiction, Rodham explores what would have become of Hillary Clinton’s life if she hadn’t married Bill. Curtis Sittenfeld does an impressive job, mixing fact with fiction and writing romantic scenes I found chilling in their accurate portrayal of what love is like. Bill is so tangential that the “reveal” of his status as a tech billionaire comes in a two-word aside (although he does run for president too―against Hillary. And loses). This is Hillary’s story, stem to stern. Well-written, well-plotted, well-conceived and well executed. The fictional timeline of the American presidency is worth the price of admission by itself. I won’t spoil the ending, except to say it brought me to tears and took my breath away.

There is, as I have previously noted, one clearly erroneous conversation in Rodham.

Comments

[Clark Smith]

I loved this joke. Hillary's old deadbeat redneck boyfriend comes to the White House and has dinner with Bill and Hillary, who are just trying to be nice to this loser.

Later on in bed, Bill leans back and laughs, "Well, Hil, I bet you're pretty glad you didn't end up marrying ole Bubba, huh?"

"You're right, Bill. Bubba would've made a lousy president."