First of all I would like to thank Net Galley and Simon
& Schuster for providing me a review copy, for no cost, of this novel in
exchange for an unbiased review.
If you were a fan of West Wing or enjoy the new TV series,
Madam Secretary, then this book will be something that you thoroughly enjoy.
I felt that the book took some time to get into, since it
talked about terrorist attacks on America and the Presidents response to those.
The reason for this is that you don’t get back to those attacks until almost
half way through the book.
But as I thought about it I realized that Nicolle Wallace
took us through a detailed development of the cast of characters that was
necessary for the story to come to life and for us to understand the responses
of each of the people to the crisis that would face them.
The book is written as a “Day in the Life of” the President
as it will entail mainly one 24 hour period of her administration, the day that
terrorist attack 5 different sites in America.
You will follow the first female President as well as her
female Vice-President, Defense Secretary and Press Secretary. Then there is the
development of her Chief of State, Craig, one of the few men detailed in the
book other than the husbands or boyfriends of the women of the Administration.
I thought the character development was very good. I thought
that the personalities of the characters were developed and came to life very
well in the crisis of the story. I particularly enjoyed how realistically
Wallace painted President Kramer and her own personal crisis with her husband,
loosing a good friend and then the strained relationship with her daughter. All
of these things brought a very human quality to the President instead of
painting her as just a Political President with no soul.
As you start to read, don’t get discouraged by not reaching
the crisis too soon. You will find that the backstory development is highly
necessary and it creates a wonderful read.
Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment