READS
As Curtis Sittenfeld publishes Rodham – a new novel that reimagines
the life of Hillary Clinton – she talks to Joanne Finney about dealing
with criticism and why getting older is a good thingRodham imagines a world where
Hillary didn’t marry Bill. Why
do you think people are so
fascinated by her?
She’s a very complex, interesting
person. I think some people are
fascinated by why this smart woman
remained with Bill in spite of his
behaviour. More people seem to
hold her accountable for staying
than hold him accountable for what
he did. I think people feel confused
about him – he’s talented and
charismatic but some of his choices
seem badly judged, so we don’t know
what to think. Our brains are
uncomfortable with the ambiguity.
Hillary is criticised by a friend’s
father for being ‘awfully opinionated
for a girl’. Do you think things have
changed for women in that respect?
Yes and no. Hillary came of age
in the 1960s and I do think that for
her generation, there’s been so much
change. She and her peers were
professional pioneers in ways that have meant women
of my generation can gain entry into professions. It may
not be balanced now, in terms of gender, but rarely are we
pioneers. Some things have changed in terms of equality
and some things haven’t. I don’t think there’s a straight
path forward. You could have made comments about
progress for women and feminism that felt true when
Obama was president that no longer feel true.
How did you get started as a writer?
From the time I could read and write, I did a lot of both.
In school, English was my favourite class and I wrote
for the school newspaper. I then worked for a business
magazine for a few years, before going to graduate school
and getting my MFA (Master of Fine Arts) degree in
fiction. From the time I graduated to the time my first
novel was published was around
four years. My agent submitted
the manuscript for my first book,
Prep, to 15 publishers and 14 of
them turned it down. One made
an offer and it was published
a year and a half later. There was
definitely an element of chance.How has your writing changed
since you were first published?
I don’t think my writing has changed
in itself. One of the nice things about
being a writer is that getting older
is a good thing. You’ve had more
exposure to the complexity of life,
which can only help your writing.
I am much more confident as a
writer than I am as a person. If
a stranger said to me ‘I’ve observed
you and I think you’re a bad mother,’
I would think about that for days.
But if I read a bad review of one of
my books, I wouldn’t think about it
for more than a few minutes.How much do you plot out your books?
I do write detailed outlines. For each chapter, I might write
a one or two-page outline, revising as I go along. Every
day I write down the time I started writing, the page
number I started from and the word count, on a sticky
note. I have thousands of them. Writing a novel is such
a slow process; it’s a reminder that I am making progress.What’s next for you?
I’ve told my publisher I want to write a book that’s light
and fun and fizzy next. We’ll see what that is! I like to
have contrast between the books I write. American Wife
[another novel about a former first lady, Laura Bush] and
Rodham definitely have a close relationship, but I wrote
them 12 years apart. I don’t think I’ll dive into anything
political any time soon.‘I’m much more
confident as a writer
than I am as a person’
R o d h a m ( T r a n s w o r l d) b y C u r t i s S i t t e n f e l d i s o u t n o w‘I DON’T THINK
ABOUT BAD
REVIEWS FOR
LONG’