New Novel Will Imagine Hillary Rodham Without Bill Clinton
Novelist Curtis Sittenfeld has rewritten Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” and the life of former first lady Laura Bush. Now, she has a new subject: Hillary Rodham Clinton.
As part of a three-book deal with Random House, Sittenfeld, who is half-Jewish, will write a novel imagining what the former Secretary of State, senator, and first lady’s life might have been had she turned down former president Bill Clinton’s proposals of marriage once and for all. (Historically, Rodham Clinton did reject Clinton’s proposals multiple times.) The Guardian reported that a Random House spokesperson said the book would debut in 2019.
The project was announced on May 8, the same day it was announced that Bill Clinton and James Patterson will collaborate in writing a novel called “The President is Missing.” Rodham Clinton will also release a book of essays this coming September.
What is the world like in a timeline in which Hillary married someone other than Bill Clinton — or no one at all? Does she become president, a Supreme Court justice, or just another coastal elite lawyer? Do strangers hear her name and feel no compulsion to ask about her emails? And what will Chelsea Clinton, who will presumably be written out of this particular history — after all, different partner, different child (again, if any at all) — think? And perhaps most importantly: By 2019, will any of us still care?
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!