The Mad Wife by Meagan Church ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

 

A  haunting exploration of identity, motherhood, and the suffocating grip of societal expectations that will leave you questioning the lives we build―and the lies we live.

They called it hysteria. She called it survival.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site.  A free book was provided for an honest review.

September 2025; Sourcebooks Landmark; 978-1464252556
audio, ebook, print (352 pages); historical fiction

The Mad Wife looks at the lives of housewives in the 1950s.  If you don't realize how far women's roles have come since this time period, you will after you finish this book.  A woman during this time period went to college to find a husband, and after she got married, her main role in life was to have babies and keep her husband happy.  Women were expected to play their role without complaint;  to always have a good dinner on the table, take care of the kids, keep the house clean, but always always dress for their husbands and be totally invested in his career and his problems. 

This book takes place in suburbia and is about Lulu Mayfield and her family.   Lulu strives to be a perfect housewife despite the fact that she has a young child and is pregnant with her second child.  She is known in their neighborhood as the wife who makes towering gelatin salads that are the talk of the neighborhood.   But after Lulu has her second child, her life begins to unravel.  She isn't following the housewife list of rules of which days to clean and which days to grocery shop, plus she is beginning to be suspicious of the new family who moved in across the street.  They just don't seem to be the people that they profess to be, and the wife, Bitsy, is obviously hiding something.  The more Lulu learns about Bitsy, the more she questions everything she thought she knew about herself and her life.  Soon her husband and neighborhood friends begin questioning her sanity. But is Lulu truly losing her mind?  Or is it just normal Housewife Hysteria that the doctor diagnosed?  As Lulu gets worse, the author presents us with a surprise that I didn't see coming, which made the story even more intriguing.

This well-written look at life for women in the 1950s is about family and friendship.  It's a look at the role of women in this time period as they worked to become perfect housewives for their husbands and family, and often ignored their own needs as women.

Buy The Mad Wife at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is three hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us. Get even more book news in your inbox, sign up for our newsletter today! Or Follow Girl Who Reads with Bloglovin. Girl Who Reads is an Amazon advertising affiliate; a small commission is earned when purchases are made at Amazon using any Amazon links on this site. Thank you for supporting Girl Who Reads.