"Gerhart is a wonderful observer, with a keen eye for detail and an excellent ear for conversation."
-- The Washington Post
"Gerhart has written an interesting book that at times makes Mrs. Bush seem a modern version of those nineteenth-century Edith Wharton wives, finding their own rich private lives amid the hard conventions of marriage and motherhood."
-- The New York Times Book Review
"The Perfect Wife is an admiring, sympathetic account of why Laura Bush is so darn nice."
-- The Washingtonian
"We may have to wait until history loosens lips to learn how much influence Laura Bush has in the White House. Meanwhile, Gerhart has made a good start at introducing us to the woman behind the smiling public mask."
-- USA Today
"Well-reported and perceptive...[it] is a short, breezy, guilty pleasure of a book, full of juicy quotes and anecdotes....Gerhart offers an unflinchingly clear-eyed view of her subject's foibles."
-- The Washington Monthly
"Captivating."
-- The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Laura Bush is superbly defined in this new biography by Ann Gerhart. If you are one of the multitudes who have wondered what the First Lady is really like, then reading The Perfect Wife is a must. It's a wonderful book."
-- Helen Thomas, Hearst newspaper columnist and author of Dateline: White House and Front Row at the White House