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AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE
Anita Abriel
Lake Union Publishing
April 15, 2025
285 pages
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I chose to read this book because of the time period and the New York setting. I love the 1950s-60s era. I thought the premise was interesting. But………
It was easy to get into the story. But, it quickly fell flat. The writing was very basic, the characters seemed shallow, the plot seemed like an outline of a future book……everything was skimmed over. Few details were given. The main character (Maggie) went from a stand-in for radio commercials to a hugely successful television host of a cooking show featuring boxed cake mixes. It seemed like in happened in one chapter. I found it unbelievable that this level of success could be achieved from a cooking show using cake mixes.
The book did touch on a few serious points: body image, eating disorders, anti-semitism, PTSD, drugs. But, again, all these topics (except PTSD) seemed like they were only mentioned in passing.
Redeeming features:
1. I enjoyed the description of the clothing styles of the era.
2. I enjoyed the fact female was portrayed as a successful tv host. It was far from the norm in the early 1950s.
3. Part of Maggie’s TV hostess job was to answer write-in questions from the TV audience. For the most part, her answers were thought out very well and positive.
4. Maggie went to a Gala wearing L’Air du Temps perfume. It was my late mother’s favourite fragrance. (The fragrance has been reformulated over the years and is not the same as it was.)
While this was not a perfect fit for me, it is a quick and entertaining read. I think it would have been a perfect beach or airplane read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.
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