Eighteen Acres by Nicolle Wallace
Atria • $25 • ISBN 9781439194829
On sale October 19, 2010
I have a soft spot for novels that have to do with the personal side of politics—think American Wife or Fly Away Home—so I was intrigued when Nicolle Wallace’s Eighteen Acres arrived in our office. Wallace is a political commentator who is most famous for her jobs as White House communications director under George W. Bush and advisor for the McCain/Palin campaign. (And as most of us know, that advising did not always go smoothly.)
Eighteen Acres tells the story of the first female president, Charlotte Kramer; Melanie Kingston, White House chief of staff; and Dale Smith, a White House correspondent. When the novel starts, the economy has tanked, Charlotte’s numbers have dropped and it’s Melanie’s 37th birthday:
Every room in the White House brought back a memory of a time when she had felt fortunate to be there. These days, she usually found herself standing in these rooms, asking—sometimes begging—the walls to talk to her. Sometimes the history that she and Charlotte were making struck her as embarrassingly overdue—many other countries had been ruled by women. And at other times, it was exhilarating to think that a new generation of women would grow up knowing the glass ceiling had been shattered once and for all. But the vast majority of the time, Melanie’s life was exhausting, her assignments unseemly and the rewards nonexistent.
Eighteen Acres is a fun, quick read about the dirty side of life in the White House. Look for a full review in the November issue of BookPage. Will you check out this novel?
What are you reading today?
I have a read along going on with two other bloggers of Lonesome Dove, in honor of its 25 anniversary — but on the side, I’m reading Traveling with Pomegranets.
The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen
At the moment, I am reading FATHER OF THE RAIN by LILY King…I’m only a quarter of the way into it but so far I’m enjoying it.
ken follets’ latest trilogy: fall of giants
Nicholas Spark’s newest book!
I’m reading Bill Bryson’s THE LOST CONTINENT. It makes me laugh out loud.
Reading SARAH’S KEY by Tatiana de Rosnay(and it’s breaking my heart!) and THE WISDOM OF TUSCANY by Ferenc Mate.
I read Eighteen Acres. It is good, but I wonder why all the focus on the first woman president’s personal life instead of more on her time in office.
I’m currently reading BURY YOUR DEAD by Louise Penny. I love her books!
EIGHTEEN ACRES has my interest and I would look into reading it.
Ape House, by Sara Gruen is certainly the best I’ve read recently. Much of it is based on real life events which is the most amazing!
I’m currently reading Neverland by Douglas Clegg. Such a creepy book. Perfect for the upcoming Halloween season.
I just finished reading Innocent by Scott Turow today. It was good read.
I just finished “Safe Haven” Nicholas Sparks newest book. It was predictable, but very good. The building of suspense in the last quarter of the book was well done. I did not want to put the book down until I knew how it was going to unfold. I am now starting “The Brave” by Nicholas Evans who wrote “The Horse Whisperer”. If it does not get better soon (I’m only 50+ pages into it) I will not finish it. So far this one is a far cry from “The Horse Whisperer”!! “Breaking Night” is next on my “to read” shelf and looks much better than “The Brave” at this point.
Enjoying Dara Horn’s All Other Nights right now. Just finished The Red Leather Diary for a book club. Pretty good read.
Sounds interesting.
Reading ‘Austin’ by Linda Lael Miller. I read all of her books.