Stacy Parker Aab’s Government Girl chronicles her time in the White House during the Clinton Administration from the age of 18 to her early 20s. Expecting the bulk of the memoir to be about the Monica Lewinsky scandal or the like would be a mistake, although Monica’s fall from grace could have just as well been Stacy’s story if she did not have the personal drive to achieve more, live within the confines of her duties and principles, and focus on self-satisfaction.
“You want acknowledgment — all that comes when you’ve done a good job, when you’re so deserving. You want that light. That hand on your shoulder. At least if you’re like me and this sort of loving affirmation from authority figures still feeds you, even if you wish it would not.” (Page 13 of ARC)
Being young and in politics, Stacy had a daunting task of navigating an adult world when she was not quite secure in her self-identity and still evolving as a woman. She’s a product of a single mother, an alcoholic father, and her mixed heritage as an African-American with a mostly unknown-to-her German ancestry. All of these elements come into play as she navigates the White House media and policy web and the knotted ropes of her possible career ladder.
“Maybe it was like going to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and seeing a rubber version of yourself blown up and ‘walking’ with the help of a dozen attendants, this version of you more than ten stories tall, knowing that your celebrity was just that, something outside you, something as big and as vulnerable as giant balloons” (Page 87 of ARC)
The narrative of this memoir is smooth in its transitions between her intern days and her past in Troy, Michigan. The struggles of family life and the dedication of her mother to help her out with schooling expenses and other costs clearly influenced Stacy’s drive for financial independence, even if the job opportunities at the time were not the most fun. Politics is at the forefront of her work in the White House, but it often takes a backseat to her internal struggle to become a strong, independent woman with a clear idea of where she wishes to be and what she wishes to achieve.
“Working, I wanted that feeling of rowing on the Potomac River, that feeling in the eight with all of us pulling our oars. Sixteen arms and sixteen legs powering that slim boat forward, as we were lead by our coxswain, as our coach called out to us from his motorized boat nearby.” (Page 39 of ARC)
In many ways, what drives Stacy is the hole inside her — an absence of fatherly love — as she falls into transient relationships with co-workers, fellow students, and others. While this desire to fill this emptiness does little to improve her romantic life, it does often push her to perfection in her work life. In terms of memoir, readers will find Government Girl is deliberate, vivid, and eye-opening — especially in terms of behind-the-scenes politics. Readers will find Stacy’s prose frank and honest, almost like a friend telling a portion of her life story to another friend.
Please stay tuned for a guest post from Stacy Parker Aab on Feb. 2, 2010.
Interested in winning 1 of 3 copies of her book (US/Canada only, sorry), please visit this giveaway link.
About the Author: (Photo credit: David Wentworth)
Writer, blogger, and former political aide, Stacy Parker Aab served for five years in the Clinton White House, first as a long-time intern in George Stephanopoulos’s office, and later as an assistant to Paul Begala. She traveled as a presidential advance person, preparing and staffing trips abroad for the president and Mrs. Clinton. She also served as a special assistant for Gov. David Paterson in New York. Please check out her Website.
Also check out this video where she talks about her memoir:
If you are interested in Government Girl, please check out the rest of the TLC Book Tour.
I’m also counting this as my 7th book for the 2010 New Authors Challenge.
FTC Disclosure: I received a free copy of Government Girl from the publisher for a TLC Book Tour and review. Clicking on title links or images will bring you to my Amazon Affiliate page; No purchase necessary.
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