Karma Brown comes up with THE RECIPE FOR THE PERFECT WIFE or does she? Undoubtedly, readers will find the book a page turner, and it is a clever writing about two women who find themselves hemmed in by society’s norms. The chapters ping pong between the two women’s bleak and unsatisfied lives. Alice (2018) comes to know of Nellie’s 1950s life when Alice and her new husband, Nate, purchase Nellie’s former home and obtain Nellie’s handwritten letters. Neither of the women find real happiness in marriage, or in the pressured lives they live. Sadly the book delivers a tale of unfulfilled, unhappy lives in a male controlled time. Homemaker-advice excerpts, from genuine existing texts begin each chapter, and are depressingly patriarchal. Karma’s carefully selected recipes demonstrate bygone times of women dutifully carrying for demanding husbands. Lies abound in both of the women’s relationships leaving you wonder why the book was written. Nobody is really happy. The book may be clever, but what does it really say about being together and living a life worth living. Well executed and interesting. Ladies, endure your husband—or not.

In Recipe for a Perfect Wife, by Karma Brown, two stories of different marriages in different time periods are linked by the house both families shared. There are also tantalizing hints that the house itself is conscious, which means that the house really loves cooking, vintage dresses, and lying to husbands.
Chapter headings include a little quotation of dated marriage advice. While these can be a laugh, they’re also a reminder of social expectations around wives and women. These quotes remind readers of a time when women were expected to completely dissolve into making home a comfortable place for the working man and providing unquestioning emotional support.
One quote really sets the tone for the novel:
The average man marries a woman who is slightly less intelligent than he is. That’s why many brilliant women never marry. They do not come in contact with sufficiently brilliant men, or fail to disguise their brilliance in order to win a man of somewhat less intelligence.
Dr. Clifford R. Adams, Modern Bride,1952
This theme, of smarter women quietly hiding their intelligence and using manipulation to achieve their goals, returns again and again.
In the modern storyline, New Yorkers Alice and Nate head for the suburbs. This beautiful house, although a bit of fixer-upper, seems like a perfect place for them to begin a new phase of their lives and start a family. Nate is still working in the city, so Alice agrees to take care of things at home, taking on the retro kitchen and beautiful garden, but also the constant, invisible work of housekeeping. Alice, without a job or friends in Greenville, begins desultory work on a novel. She finds inspiration when she finds a cookbook and other possessions left behind by the previous owner of the house, a fifties housewife and avid gardener.
Our second story is set in the same house, in the fifties. Nellie spends her days baking for neighborhood Tupperware parties, gardening, cooking dinners, and trying to placate her husband.
Throughout the novel, I felt almost like the house was a character in the story. Not just for the lovely descriptions of the home and beautiful garden, but because the house was the setting for so much deceit. Alice’s personality changed dramatically when she left New York and came to live in the suburbs, becoming more dishonest as she spent more time in the house. She jokes that the house likes baking, since the small annoyances of an old house seem smaller when she’s cooking mores, but to me it seemed like the house likes lying. In Nellie’s storyline, the beautiful house is a disturbing cover for the horrible relationship inside.
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Vintage Jell-O Recipes (Source: Gennibee on Flickr)
The two women are connected by the house, at least at first, but the stories are linked by food and recipes. Nellie’s recipes are a major part of the story, and like most 1950s cookbooks, they swing wildly between delicious and disgusting. Fifties recipes include typical meat-and-potatoes staple dinners and tempting cakes… Who wouldn’t want to try a lemon cake with candied violets? But they also include making savory dinner fancy by adding Jell-O. Bored at home, Alice begins baking vintage recipes, and then buying vintage dresses, which seems like a cute hobby at first.
Although I was charmed by the retro aesthetic, it was not entirely a surprise to discover that Nellie’s charming housewife life holds dark secrets. I was surprised, though, to see just how dark it got, without losing the fifties flair. At a time when a woman needed her husband’s permission to open a checking account, and working married women were expected to resign immediately when they fell pregnant, a lot of the conflict comes from economic control. Naturally, any independence Nellie can gain is secretive and sneaky. She remains a sympathetic character, though, because her motives are clear.
In the same house, in modern times, Alice’s suburban housewife life also holds darkness and dishonesty. The very basics of her marriage and career are full of secrets, but the story is revealed skillfully, with one small lie leading to the next slightly larger one. Alice lies about her job, her smoking, and how she spends her day, and every lie needs another one to support it, until her entire marriage depends on Nate never learning the truth.
Alice’s bestie, Bronwyn, may be a minor character, but she’s a great one. At one point, she realizes that Alice has used her as an alibi, and in seconds, she covers for Alice, smoothly agreeing with her story and keeping her secrets. We should all have a friend like this.
There are clever connections between Nellie’s lies and Alice’s lies. Both marriages face clear conflict around birth control and money, as well as quieter, shadowy conflict around identity. The details are different, although the themes are very similar. A housewife in the fifties might skim grocery money and hoard cash, while a modern woman might obfuscate how much work she’s doing, or pretend she’s going into the city for a different kind of meeting. It’s clear that Nellie can’t tell Richard anything personal, but I did wonder why Alice kept so many things from Nate. Seeing the same themes and the same narrative beats in the two stories worked well, and deepened this connection between the two women.
I enjoyed the novel, although I didn’t completely buy every aspect of the story. Some moments felt a bit contrived, and for me, the mark of really good fiction is completely forgetting that it’s fiction at all. Some conflicts seemed manufactured for tension, including a few times when Alice lied to Nate for no particular reason. There were also some coincidences that felt, well, fictional. Still, the complicated relationships, developed characters, and vintage aesthetic carried the novel.

Alice is a "new housewife" who has moved to NY to support her husband Nate and his career. It's certainly an adjustment - and then Alice finds an old cookbook (with interesting recipes and notes in the margin!) belonging to the original owner of the house, Nellie. She also goes through magazines and finds letters written by Nellie that help her uncover that Nellie's "perfect wife" image is far from true. She comes to realize that she has more in common with this 1950s housewife than she originally thought - both have secrets and hidden thoughts that they find hard to express.
I found Nellie's story more interesting than Alice's - but both kept me reading until the very end! I really enjoyed looking at the old recipes that begin most chapters, and the old "advice" about marriage and being a wife that accompanied the recipes. This was a pleasurable read that was a breath of fresh air!
Thanks to Karma Brown, Dutton and NetGalley for the ARC.

I read this book very quickly as I couldn’t put it down. For me it had many elements that kept my interest. I loved the dual viewpoints of Nellie and Alice. The 50’s for me were an interesting time in history. I enjoyed the sprinkling of how life was back then especially the recipes. Alice was the “modern” woman but came to appreciate some of Nellies life of the 1950’s in the end. Well done Karma, another winner. # netgalley #recipeforaperfectwife

I just couldn't get into this book. The packaging/cover looks great and the premise made me think it might work for my library book discussion groups. Unfortunately, I just didn't connect to any of the main characters and didn't finish the book.

I was pleasantly surprised by Recipe for a Perfect Wife. As with most books with dual storylines, I enjoyed one (Nellie's) more than the other. I struggled a bit with Alice's character, but Nellie's story kept me engaged until the end. I wish we'd heard a little more from her at the end.

Love this book! Clever writing and while not a completely original idea, so very well executed. Perfect reading for a pandemic.

After Alice Hale loses her job in publicity and follows her husband to the New York suburbs, she finds herself at a loss. After the way that she chose to leave her job she can't go back there, and her manuscript is at a definite standstill. Their new (old) house is filled with character and a history but it's also quiet and lonely while her husband works long days. When Alice finds an old recipe book she also finds clues that reveal the story of Nellie Murdoch, an oppressed housewife from the 1950's, not to mention old letters addressed to her own mother.

As Alice reveals Nellie's decades-old secrets she begins to see how Nellie's story parallel's her own and begins to realize some hard truths about her own life in the process.

I've been a fan of Karma Brown's since her first novel, Come Away With Me. I've even had the privilege of meeting her in person at a book signing in Burlington, Ontario! This book had a distinctly different feel than Brown's previous books and I definitely enjoyed it. While I don't read a lot of fiction that takes place in the past I do really enjoy it when I come across it and the dual narrative in this book, weaving together the past and the present, was very well done and enjoyable. I was curious as to how both stories would unfold.

I enjoyed the story of both of these women as well as the surprising ending, which has stayed with me even though I have read several books since this one. While I enjoyed the story of Nellie more than the one of Alice, and would have liked to have read more about Nellie, both story lines piqued my curiosity and kept me eagerly turning the pages. Even though it's a departure from her usual fare, this is a worthy read by Brown.

Alice Hales and her husband, Nate, have recently left the hustle and bustle of New York City for the suburbs. With Alice leaving her PR job, the only house they could afford was an older house that looked like it was stuck in the 1950s. Alice is a little discombobulated by all the changes in her life and then she finds an old cookbook from the previous owner of the house, Nellie Murdoch. Between the cookbook and some old letters that a neighbor provides, Alice paints a picture of Nellie's life. Life in the 50's was different, and the pressures put on Nellie by her husband aren't all that different from the pressures that Alice is currently feeling from Nate. Alice keeps reading the letters looking for both inspirations for a book she is supposed to be writing and advice for how to deal with issues in her marriage. Will Alice be able to use the recipes found to improve her life?

Recipe For A Perfect Wife is the story of two women; Alice and Nellie. And the story is told in alternating timelines. Alice's story in 2018 and Nellie's story in 1955. The women have a lot in common, but for different reasons. Let's talk about Alice first, her marriage is only two years old, and it is a hot mess. Broken in ways that neither Alice nor her husband address and maybe the author doesn't even realize. It all stems from their lack of communication. Nate buys ovulation testing kits without even talking to his wife? Who does that? Alice got fired from her job and didn't even tell her husband? Who does that? I mean seriously, who does that in 2018? 1955 is a different time and when Nellie realized that the man she had married wasn't very nice, her options were limited, but she did have options. And she executed those options more than once. - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS. I am not all that pleased with the way the book ended. It should have ended with Nate and Alice in marriage counseling, but it didn't.

Bottom Line - Recipe For A Perfect Wife was really quite good, despite the shocking dysfunction. It was an interesting look at two different women in two different eras with similar issues in their lives. This book would make for a great book club read if you are looking for one that will generate some great conversations.

Details:
Recipe For A Perfect Life by Karma Brown
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Pages: 336
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Publication Date: 12/31/2019
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Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

What a lovely book! I’ve loved other writings by Brown but this was quite different and no less amazing. I enjoyed (and was annoyed) at the similarities of the way women were treated from two different time periods, a similar response to the quotes at the start of each chapter. But then I loved each woman and wanted desperately to see if she was able to take on a role and still be herself.

Great read for high-school girls to begin thinking of what they want from life; in rural communities especially the idea of being a "perfect wife" is still very much in the mindset.

Two women, many years apart, share a cookbook and marital issues. Well written. I pretty well knew where this was going when the gardening became an important part of the story. I had a bit of an issue withe the neighbour next door as she was in both the past and the present but it all ended well.

Although the dual narrative in different eras has been done before, this is a beautiful story of the perfection of the imperfect. I love that the chosen time in the past was set in the 1950's, at time when we perceive the perfect housewife to have flourished, and the recipes add some fun and nostalgia!

I received an electronic ARC from Penguin Group Dutton through NetGalley.
I liked the premise for this book and wanted to like the characters and plot more than I did. Usually, I enjoy books set in two time periods, but these characters were stereotypes of the two eras - 1950's & 2018.
Nate and Alice move from New York City to the suburbs as Nate wants to move. Alice is drifting as she's been fired (though she has lied to Nate about that) and isn't thrilled to move. Interesting interactions in 2018 and neither comes off as likeable nor trustworthy. Unfortunately, Alice as the main character is portrayed as dropping deeper and deeper into lies as she isn't willing to actually talk with her husband. Granted, he is busy studying for a huge test for his career and is not as tuned in as he should be but seems to be a decent man. His portrayal is skewed through Alice's eyes.
Meanwhile, back in the fifties, Nellie and Richard are not exactly a dream couple either. He's abusive in all ways and she's convinced she has no options but to remain with him. The suburban 50's world is presented as a cesspool in several ways - gossiping neighbors, abusive relationships, few options for women. Again, neither main character nor the supporting ones are presented as 3-dimensional beings.
The recipes are delightful and nostalgic. They do set the mood for each chapter set in the 1950's.
It's a plotline that has been done many times and I wanted more from the book than the unlikeable characters and straightforward actions included in this book.

3.5 stars / This was good! Not what I expected, but in a good way. This book is an interesting look into what many relationships in the 50s looked like and how they still can be that way today as well. I recommend to those who enjoy books that look in-depth at relationships!

Recipe for a Perfect Wife is a fascinating novel told in alternating timelines -- a 1950's housewife and present day. I wanted to read this book because of the reference to a 1950's cookbook and retro suburbia. It did not disappoint! I love Mid-Century life and found this novel a fast, interesting read. Recommended!

This book is told in alternating perspectives - one in more present time and one during the 1950s. I'm not a super fan of historical fiction but I liked the back and forth viewpoints. This book definitely wasn't what I was expecting. It held my interest a decent amount but I didn't enjoy it as much as I have previously enjoyed Karma Brown books.

This book started off just fine and I was very intrigued. At about 20% of the way in, I started to get bored as well as frustrated with the characters. The parts of the story set in the 1950s were maddening because of the treatment of women. I know that it was reality back then but it was so frustrating all the same. Unfortunately it didn’t get better for me. I really wanted to like this book.

I really enjoyed the simplicity of this book, and the way the two complicated story lines intermixed. The stories laid themselves out slowly, making you want to know what happened next, almost like a thriller! The two main characters had interesting, complicated lives, and I wanted to know more and more as it went on~

Very well done.

I have tried to start this book multiple times and I hate to say it but I just don’t think this is a good fit for me. And I’m not sure why because it has everything I would love about a book?