Book Review - The Mad Wife by Meagan Church
- missybigskybooks
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Title: The Mad Wife
Author: Meagan Church
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Genre: Historical Fiction
It’s Monday again, and Monday’s can sometimes feel a little blah. But, I have a book for you that is not. A book that I absolutely binged—The Mad Wife by Meagan Church! I have a beautiful @aardvarkbookclub copy, but also was able to listen to the audio thanks to @recordedbooks @rbmediaaudiobooks + @netgalley #gifted which was beautifully narrated by Susan Bennett.
“Of course, sometimes we forget that dreams and nightmares are the same side of the coin.”
This book is mostly a historical fiction that explores identity, motherhood, and the societal pressures & expectations in the 1950s that women faced. However, it’s told in a questioning and paranoid way that feels like a thriller. And the way that I GASPED when a twist came along around the 70% mark!
“But, I had missed the mad wife in the mirror.”
Have you ever heard of term hysteria? This book is going to teach it to you. It’s going to infruiated you what our grandmother’s went through as wives and mothers.
Lulu has spent the past five years molding herself into the perfect housewife. Through exhausting expectations she manages to keep her household running smoothly, husband happy, and has become the queen of gelatin salads (EWWW and LOL) in her neighborhood. However, once she has her second child, her seemingly perfect life begins to unravel. It further unravels when a new neighbor, Bitsy, moves in across the street and Lulu becomes fixated on how happy Bitsy always is and a strong feeling that something isn’t right with her neighbor across the street.
This one stays more historical than psychological, but for some reason the way it is so immersive and has you questioning these characters it gave me vibes of The Push by Audrey Audrain. The publisher comps it to The Bell Jar and the Hours.
The physical and digital copies are OUT NOW and the audiobook comes out 11/4.
4.5 ⭐️, highly recommended! A great book club pick!
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