A book with the words Vox Book Club on the cover. Zac Freeland/Vox

Our pick for July 2020 is Rodham, by Curtis Sittenfeld.

Here’s how the Vox Book Club works: Every month, we pick a book. Throughout the month, we publish discussion posts containing thoughts and questions from Vox book critic Constance Grady, but we also have comments turned on and moderated so you can share your thoughts, too. Talk among yourselves! Post your opinions and questions! Or use our discussion posts as a jumping-off point for (socially-distanced) discussions with your own friends and family. And at the end of the month, we gather on Zoom for a virtual live discussion.

Our pick for July is Curtis Sittenfeld’s Rodham, an alternate history that tells us what would have happened if Hillary Rodham had never married Bill Clinton. On its own merits, Rodham is a juicy, scandalous read, with plenty to say about the way American politics have evolved during the decades the Clinton family has been in public life. (Plus, there are some oddly intimate sex scenes that in and of themselves are fodder for endless conversation.)

And because this is Vox and we have access to some of the most detail-oriented politics nerds on the planet, we’ve brought in some special Vox experts to help us fact-check Rodham’s politics and put the book into context, both as a piece of alternate political history and as a work of political real person fiction.

To close out the month, Constance will host a live discussion of Rodham on Thursday, July 30 with the author herself, Curtis Sittenfeld.

Come join us!

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Here’s the full Vox Book Club schedule for July 2020

Friday, July 10: Discussion post on political real person fiction and how Rodham fits into the genre

Friday, July 24: Discussion post fact-checking Rodham’s alternate history and examining how the book imagines Hillary Rodham Clinton, the woman, the myth, the politician

Thursday, July 30 at 5pm ET: Virtual live discussion featuring Vox book critic Constance Grady and Rodham author Curtis Sittenfeld. RSVP here!