The highly anticipated novel Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld (also available as eAudio on Overdrive/Libby) recently hit the shelves, which explores the idea of Hillary Clinton rejecting all of Bill’s marriage proposals and paving her own path. Who would Hillary be today if she did not marry Bill? While you are waiting to read it or if you have already enjoyed it, check out these book recommendations that explore women in politics, alternate timelines in history, and women forging their own identities. If you haven’t read Curtis Sittenfeld before, you can check out her many titles on Overdrive.
Are you interested in more book recommendations? Fill out our Book Recommendation form and a librarian will curate a list of suggestions for you! You can access Overdrive and Hoopla through our eResources page or by downloading the Libby and Hoopla apps to your device. You can view tutorial videos here for more information. Contact Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh on any of our social media platforms or email us at info@carnegielibrary.org if you have any questions.
Linda seems like she has it all – respected journalism career, loving husband and children, home in Geneva – but she actually feels painfully alone and bored. When her dissatisfaction spins into depression, an old friend comes back into her life and Linda is seized by the desires of having an affair. You can also check out this title as eAudio on Overdrive/Libby and as eBook on Overdrive/Libby.
Cady Davenport is living the American dream in Washington, D.C. with a new job and fiancé, but when he hits the road for the upcoming presidential election, Cady finds herself thrust into an influential inner circle – the campaign widows. Unlikely friends all with spouses on the campaign trail, Cady tries to find her place within the circle, while the pressures of the election spins faster, in hopes to find the strength to pursue her own happiness. You can check out this title as eBook on Hoopla and as eBook on Overdrive/Libby.
What happens when you want it all, but don’t know how much you are willing to sacrifice? Charlotte is running for Senate, after leaving her high-powered Silicon Valley job, back in her Pennsylvania hometown with her husband Max and three young daughters. She becomes blindsided by dirty play from opponents, harsh criticism from the press, and navigating a marriage with a resentful husband. When a secret is uncovered that will threaten her campaign, how far will Charlotte go to win? You can check out this title as eBook on Overdrive/Libby.
Our overworked, unnamed protagonist has a perfect life on the surface; she is studying for a prestigious PhD in Chemistry to please her Chinese parents and her successful, supportive boyfriend has proposed to her. However, between the demanding hours at the lab and the inability to answer the marriage question, she finds herself breaking down and going off-course, only to find herself on a new path of discoveries. You can check out this title as eAudio on Overdrive/Libby and as eBook on Overdrive/Libby.
Fanny Savage spent almost twenty years being a perfect wife for her politically ambitious husband, making sure to keep quiet and look good at public engagements. Getting tired, she recalls the career and life she abandoned as a partner in her father’s Italian wine business, and perhaps after spending all this time being “a good wife,” it’s time for a change. You can check out this title as eBook on Overdrive/Libby.
Beth follows her ambitious husband to Washington, D.C., hating the lifestyle, bored of politics, and completely friendless. However, Beth and her husband, Matt meet charismatic White House staff Jimmy and his wife, and quickly become an inseparable group with brunches, weekend trips, and birthdays. As Jimmy’s star rises higher and Matt becomes more politically involved, Beth finds both her relationship and her friendship threatened by jealously, competition, and rumors. You can check out this title as eAudio on Overdrive/Libby and as eBook on Overdrive/Libby.
Charlotte Kramer, the 45th and first female president, alongside Melanie Kingston, the White House chief of staff, and Dale Smith, a White House correspondent for a major network, are working tirelessly on Charlotte’s campaign for re-election when rumors of Charlotte’s husband’s infidelity in addition to grave errors of judgement on her closest national security advisor implodes. With dangerous threats from abroad and within her cabinet, Charlotte must fight to protect the presidency and the American people. You can check out this title as eAudio on Hoopla and as eBook on Overdrive/Libby.
In alternate history in 1949, Lucy is a daughter of one of the upper-crust English families, the well-connected “Farthing set,” with her parents being leading figures that overthrew Churchill and negotiated peace with Hitler eight years earlier. Lucy married David, a London Jew, despite her parents’ disapproval, and they travel to a retreat by invitation only to find a major politician of the Farthing set has been murdered. It’s clear they are trying to pin the murder on David, so they must fight back with the help from an investigator from Scotland Yard. You can check out this title as eBook on Overdrive/Libby.
Queenie is a Jamaican British woman working at a newspaper in London, who starts making questionable decisions in romance and life after a bad breakup with her long-term boyfriend.
This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby and in eAudio on Libby.
Meri is newly married and pregnant, and while contemplating the realities of her life, she meets her new neighbor, Delia, wife of the two-term liberal senator Tom Naughton. Despite Tom’s chronic infidelity that is an open secret in Washington circles, the bond between Delia and Tom is strong. Delia and Meri find themselves reckoning with the mysteries of marriage and forgiveness while living parallel lives from one another. You can check out this title as eAudio on Overdrive/Libby and as eBook on Overdrive/Libby.
Evelyn Hugo, aging Hollywood movie icon, decides to tell the truth of her life story and selects unknown magazine reporter, Monique Grant, to do the job. Despite her surprise of being selected, she accepts to hopefully use this to jump start her career, only to find that Evelyn’s story intersects with her own in tragic and irreversible ways. You can check out this title as eAudio on Overdrive/Libby and as eBook on Overdrive/Libby.
Four women learn to carry on themselves while supporting one another as they find the men in their lives are less than reliable. Savannah, Bernadine, Gloria, and Robin find strength and stability in their friendship as they each find an identity for themselves without having to share with others. You can check out this title as eBook on Overdrive/Libby.
Lorena “Hick” Hickok and Eleanor Roosevelt meet in 1932 while Hick is reporting on Franklin’s first presidential campaign and working to reinvent herself as the most prominent woman reports in America. Eventually, her connection with the future first lady develops into intimacy, which leads to Hick moving into the White House, taking a job in the Roosevelt administration, and experiencing her relationship with both Eleanor and Franklin in deep, complicated ways. You can also check out this title as eAudio on Overdrive/Libby and as eBook on Overdrive/Libby.
Eighteen-year-old Deya is meeting suitors in Brooklyn due to her grandparents’ insistence, despite her disinterest in marriage. History certainly repeats itself as Deya’s mother Isra had no choice in her marriage to Adam when she left Palestine as a teenager. While Deya was raised to believe her parents, Isra and Adam, died in a car accident, a secret note from a mysterious woman makes Deya question everything about her past, her community, and her identity. You can also check out this title as an eBook or eAudio on OverDrive/Libby, or as an eBook or eAudio on Hoopla.
Aviva Grossman, an ambitious, Jewish congressional intern in Florida, makes a fatal mistake of having an affair with her (married) boss, which she then takes the fall as it comes to light. Changing her name and moving to Maine, she decides to raise her daughter Ruby to be strong and confident, and also run for public office. When that long-ago mistake catches up to her in the digital age, Ruby finds out a part of her mother she never knew and reconcile with who she really is. You can also check out this title as eAudio on Hoopla, as eAudio on Overdrive/Libby, as eBook on Hoopla, and as eBook on Overdrive/Libby.