Historical fiction with a message. Post-war 50’s suburbia, and Lulu knows her job is to be the perfect wife and mother. Her husband Henry is up for a promotion at the architectural firm. Her son Wesley has just turned 4. And she is pregnant, Henry is thrilled that their family will be complete. When a new family moves in across the street, Lulu takes an instant dislike to Bitsy. She continues to react to the pressures of the life she lives and how she is allowed to express herself. Although she would have preferred to live in the country, although she would have preferred working at a newspaper to staying home, her needs are always dismissed.
I didn’t read any trigger warnings on this one, and I’m glad, because the plot twists came as pretty surprising and heartbreaking to me. Intensely readable, it is easy to get lost in Lulu’s inner dialogue, even as things are not as they seem. This is a perfect book club book- there is something for everyone. Sure to inspire discussions about how women’s needs were dismissed, and everything became “hysteria” or “housewife’s syndrome.”
Audiobook review- with a reverential performance, the narrator takes a solemn tone to Lulu’s inner dialogue, which is absolutely pitch perfect for the time period and how we see the world from her point of view. The pacing lends itself well to audio, for me this was a perfect 1.8 speed novel.
Five stars
a best historical fiction of 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the ARC. Book to be published November 4, 2025.
Leave a Reply