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Rodham

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Rodham

By: Curtis Sittenfeld
Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
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About this listen

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 Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Witty Thought-Provoking Funny Mind-bending Inspiring

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Critic reviews

‘Startlingly good. One of my favourite writers.’ Kate Atkinson
All stars
Most relevant  
Brilliantly narrated. As for the writing, I felt I really got to know and like and care for Hillary. Made me think about equality and privilege.

Felt authentic and written with love

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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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Nice alternative history exploring what would happen if hilary never married bill. Easy listen and interesting bits of history in with the fiction.

Enjoyable easy listen

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I devoured this book in days (and For almost of that I was looking after demanding kids in lockdown). I couldn’t stop listening and several scenes were jaw dropping. One time I actually was listening at work and gasped out loud so shocking was the story.

Mesmerising - loved it

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The idea behind this book really appealed to me. I could have been an inspiring story but it never arose above the level of a mediocre novel. I struggled my way to 2 hours before the end and then I couldn’t deal with it anymore. The voice of the narrator didn’t help, that bothered me from the beginning. So it’s the first book in a long time that I didn’t finish.

Disappointing

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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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Fabulous story and narration
Sorry it had to end!
Loved it from start to finish

Brilliant story

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Absolutely brilliant story - and of course I wish it were true. I’m an admirer of this author and think her stories are realistic and very well told, I feel like my brain has been expanded: also I Love the endless anecdotes and personal ideas. I recommend this book to all women.

Very enjoyable and excellent story

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A great “Sliding Doors” tale of how life could have turned out for Hillary Rodham Clinton if fate had taken a different twist. So well narrated I felt transported into the lives of Hillary and Bill and didn’t want the story to end.

An addictively superb read

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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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