The Perfect Wife: The Life and Choices of Laura Bush

This book was fascinating. The Perfect Wife is well written, well researched, insightful and informative. Ann Gerhart is able to place Laura Bush in context for us; through every chapter she delineates how the personal and the public coexist within a complex person. Laura Bush seems stereotypical of a certain sort of southern woman, but as we know, stereotypes are confining in their lack of dimension. The Perfect Wife ably shows us how Laura Bush is not one-dimensional, rather, she is an intellectual surrounded with stacks of books at her side, she has had friends who are Democrats (and hippies, back in the day), she has known tragedy first-hand, and, like many wives and mothers, is at times annoyed by her spouse and offspring (but is too well-mannered to ever say so in public.) I loved this book - I never thought I could relate to a "first lady" (or a perfect wife... ) but after reading this, I'm rethinking many expectations.

You must read this book, it is amazing, the chapter on the girls is possibly the best writing I have ever seen. Ann gerhart is a great author. She penetrates lauras phyche with extreme intellectual ability and goes in depth into it and into her values, concepts, and ideas.

This book is, first of all, beautifully written --Ann Gerhart can craft the kind of sentence that makes you want to go back and read it again just to linger on the words and the perfect pitch of her writing voice. Beyond that, what struck me is how much The Perfect Wife, while it is the most illuminating portrait I have read to date on the mysterious Mrs. Bush, is really a deeper study on the choices that so many women confront. How to raise a family and be its emotional center of gravity while holding on to some independent sense of self? How to have a career (or not) while being the "perfect wife" to a needy husband. (And, yes, the George Bush portrayed in this book is needy.) What's fascinating is that Laura Bush seems to do this so effortlessly, or so I thought, before reading Gerhart's book, which lays out the First Lady's family history and some real pain that she has experienced along the way. I would recommend this book to anyone -- mothers, daughters, grandmothers, husbands (if you could get them to read it!) -- anyone interested in a really good read and a penetrating look at the challenges and rewards of being a wife and mother.

This book is an insightful, balanced view of one of the most enigmatic figures in the Bush administration. Laura Bush is a virtually unknown first lady -- our country owes Ann Gerhart a great deal for explaining her journey down the aisle with W and down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. I bought the book yesterday and gobbled it up. This is the perfect gift for political junkies and it is also a fascinating read for anyone who is interested in the influence wives have on their husbands or the difficulties of raising children in the public eye.The chapter on the Bush twins (YIKES!!) is great. Everyone needs to read this book.

Thanks to Ann Gerhart for a terrific inside look at a reclusive First Lady. Gerhart gives readers the story behind Laura Bush's near constant smile. There is love and tragedy in Bush's life. Gerhart, always a terrific writer, keeps the story moving. Her great access to the First Lady will leave readers feeling like they know and understand the woman behind the President.