American Housewife

American Housewife is an interesting journey back in time to an era when a woman’s work was never done…. at home. Cooking and cleaning, having children, making drinks before the husband arrives home sums up what a “working woman” was expected to do in the 1950s. It didn’t matter if that is what she really aspired to do. The story which is witnessed through the eyes of a progressive 1950’s woman who notices the restlessness of some housewives which begins as an itch to being a husband’s trophy wife/cook/cleaner instead wanting to be treated as their husband’s equal.

Maggie Lane is a radio personality who has just been offered the job of hosting a TV show. The Maggie Lane Baking Show is her ultimate dream job. The problem is she’s not married and in this particular era you had to be married to discuss cooking topics to other women, but also know a thing or two about baking, both of which she knew nothing about.

But Maggie, who never really wanted to get married but is dating a very wealthy war hero who had been asking her to marry him for months, decides with his support to quickly marry and hesitatingly accepts the job.

But life as a married couple is quite the adjustment. With Maggie’s long hours and sudden popularity, her new husband’s horrible dreams at night and unwillingness to talk to her about them, they discover the beginnings of cracks in their already not so honest relationship. Her stardom begins to interfere with the marriage as well. You see, no matter what, it’s still a man’s world and Maggie is not a man.

As their problems grow deeper and although they try to hold each other accountable in their marriage and as Maggie who herself holds secrets from her past afraid to open up about, secrets we learn in flashbacks, is terrified that if she tells him he will divorce her.

Part of Maggie’s job is answering letters from viewers, mostly housewives. She does it with honesty as opposed to expectation. Through the letters she begins to understand the advantages she has and the rules some of these married women must follow and the burden they carry. She even sees it in her best friend who is desperately in love but fears she is not good enough for her boyfriend.

But when Maggie’s past becomes her present it could not only impact her career but more importantly her marriage which is already hanging by a thread. Being a 1950’s housewife should have been easy but for Maggie who always wanted more and will not stop until she’s succeeded in her dreams desperately must decide what to sacrifice as she sees her husband slipping away.

American Housewife is a wonderful impactful story about a woman’s past meeting her present a woman emerging as a celebrity in an era when most women were not even allowed to voice their own opinion. But, as women began to find their voice one word at a time, it certainly could be said it was the start of the feminist movement as housewives began to dip their toes into their backyard pools while becoming their own person.

Thank you #NetGalley #LakeUnionPublishing #AnitaAbriel #AmericanHousewife for the advanced copy.