By Meagan Church | This review contains spoilers
Husbands…
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I bought my copy of The Mad Wife several weeks ago and had it on my TBR long before that. I was very interested in the story of a 1950s housewife possibly losing her mind. I mean, who wouldn’t? We’ve all seen movies and tv shows highlighting that era of homemaking its creepy.
This review is going to contain spoilers. So far, every review I’ve written I’ve tried to avoid that because I want you all to go out and read the book. This book hits a little different though and I need to talk about it without beating around the bush. So, again here’s your warning SPOILERS ARE AHEAD.
The Mad Wife
The Mad Wife follows our main female character Lulu as she struggles to be the perfect 1950s housewife. She wants to fit in and be like all the other wives on her block but, she doesn’t quite feel sufficient. Very early on in the book we see Lulu wanting the house across the street in my own way I felt like Lulu was just longing for a place of her own -maybe one that didn’t need her to be perfect. We also know very early in the book that Lulu struggled with what I can only assume was post partum depression after having her first child Wesley. She’s pregnant at the beginning of the book and after giving birth we start to see some cracks in Lulus behavior.
She’s struggling to find happiness, balance and the desire to care for herself or her house. Making matters worse her husband is spending long hours at work or in his home office. Although we know he’s trying for a promotion Lulu becomes suspicious that he may be having an affair with the new office secretary. There is a lot going on in the house with Lulu adjusting to the recent birth of Esther, the couples daughter and second child.
Lulus friend group which consists of the neighborhood wives seem to be keeping a watchful eye and trying to help her. Particularly Nora who pops by and offers to watch the house so Lulu can grocery shop but, she also cleans and schedules a card game. She’s very insistent on being a good, present friend to Lulu. But, there are moments where it feels like Lulu is suspicious of that too.
Lulu also becomes low-key obsessed with the new neighbors across the street. She can’t put her finger on it but, she knows that something is wrong.
Throughout all this, naturally we have a doctor come in to check Lulu out and he says she’s suffering from hysteria. He prescribes her some medication and the story moves on.
Now, that you have a general idea of what’s going on in the book I’m about to get into the spoilers here.
Lulus husband comes off in the book to me as an avoidant workaholic. As in he’s using his work to stay locked up in his home office but I always doubted he was doing work there. I always had the feeling he just wanted to not be around his family. That’s definitely a luxury most men with home offices enjoy. It’s obvious that he does love and care for Lulu but he’s clueless as to help her and he wants her back to normal. That means putting herself together, keeping house, making fresh homemade meals. I don’t think it’s intentional but, he does put a lot on her throughout the book and again none of it was out of the normal for that time.
One of his solutions to help Lulu out of her funk and get back to being happy was him purchasing a dishwasher.
…YES A FREAKING DISHWASHER
He was literally so happy and proud of himself for thinking that a dishwasher would help his wife out of her funk. I can not fathom a world where the only thing you ever really need is a dishwasher and all your problems will go away. Needless to say that dishwasher didn’t fucking help. But, not needless to say because it’s important you know this – WE THE READER ARE THINKING AT THIS POINT IN THE STORY LULU IS JUST DEPRESSED -MAYBE SUFFERING POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION BUT GUESS WHAT? Lulu isn’t just in a damn funk. Baby Esther DIED DURING BIRTH.
This woman literally just lost her baby and this man bought a dishwasher to help. DUH THE LADY WAS IN PSYCHOSIS. Who wouldn’t be? There was absolutely no real help available to her. I’m surprised she didn’t jump out a damn window. Because she didn’t even like the damn dishwasher, it was bulky and it wasn’t even fixed into the kitchen tucked away under the counter like most dishwasher, no here’s was portable and just sat out in the open talking up the walkway.
Poor woman.
All through the book we believe just like Lulu that her baby is alive and well and she’s just having a hard time adjusting to life with another child. That’s not the case at all and it was so shocking when it’s finally revealed that baby Esther was gone to heaven. That was the very last thing I was expecting. But having a mental break that like really does explain a lot of her behavior and paranoia with the neighbors in the book.
Also, honestly even without the baby thing going on her husband as “good” as he seems he really does play a part into her mental health. I can see (because I have a husband of my own) how draining it must be for her sometimes. He seems to operate as if she’s there to help at his beck and call. For example the random dinner party, all the new years eve parties, the expectation of her keeping house and appearances so soon after birth (normal or otherwise). He seems like a big ass headache.
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What I liked about The Mad Wife
I liked that The Mad Wife felt very relatable. That Lulu felt like she could be anyone, you, me, our best friend or next door neighbor. A woman burdened with so much and suffering silently because appearances matter, being able to handle all we’re expected to handle and with a smile is the thought to be the most basic and easy thing to do -even though its not. The fact that Lulu was such an unreliable narrator but we really couldn’t tell was one of my favorite parts of this book. I liked that I wanted to go on the delulu train with her. I sympathized with her newborn babies will wear you down is all I could think as I flipped the pages. The fact that there was no baby was a shock. None of the characters gave away the truth or made us question anything and I appreciated that.
What I didn’t like about this book
I didn’t like how the husband was the way he was. He was definitely written well because his behavior was no only classic for the times but, it still hits so close to home for many today. The pure ignorance of thinking a dishwasher would help. The luxury of being able to escape to a space just for you while leaving everything else up to your wife. Laughing it up with the neighbor basically calling her crazy, plotting lobotomies and what not instead of just being present and supportive. Insane. But the worst part of it all is that this dudes still get to be labeled as a good guy. Let’s be real. This dude was self centered put her own feelings above Lulus and if she hadn’t ran away from the mental hospital was just fine with them doing whatever they wanted to to her if it meant he could have his housekeeper back with a smile on her face.
Would I recommend this book?
The Mad Wife is honestly such a good book. Yes, I would recommend it. Especially if you love dark suburbia – house wives gone wrong kind of vibe. If you like the kind of stories where something is seriously wrong but you don’t know what it is (except I just told you) kind of thing. This is the perfect book.
The Mad Wife is the 6th book I read this year.
I’ve written reviews of every book I’ve read this year so far. I set a goal to read 24 book this year which is only 2 books per month but, I had a lot of loaners from the library I needed to get through. Plus, I also wanted to reduce my screen time. I’m really enjoying reading and then reviewing my books. It’s been helping me keep my mind of other things and get back to doing something I’ve loved my entire life.
If you’ve been following again, thank you!