3.5 🌟

A light and easy read, very sweet and very cozy. I loved the 1950s New York setting, and I thought the author did an excellent job of setting the stage just right and immersing us in that time period. Conflicts are easily resolved and nothing is ever incredibly dire - it wasn't exactly my cup of tea but it was enjoyable nonetheless.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

New York City, 1950. Dreams come true for radio personality Maggie Lane when she gets her big break in the exciting new world of television. The Maggie Lane Baking Show is on the air.

All she has to do is act like the ideal housewife, create sumptuous desserts, charm the show’s sponsors, and sign a morality clause to ensure that her girl-next-door image remains untarnished. Although newlywed Maggie has never baked so much as a cookie, and knows even less about maintaining a home, keeping up appearances is a necessary ingredient for success. Easy. She has a supportive husband and a legion of fans who can’t wait to know her better and better, week after week.

That’s what she’s afraid of. Off camera, cracks are showing in her marriage, an old lover makes an unexpected return, and there are secrets from the past that could ruin everything Maggie has worked for. With every dream on the line, Maggie wonders if she can still have it all when the truth about what it really means to be an American housewife comes to light.

Loved it. Will recommend to others

American Housewife touches on so many small and poignant pieces of history for Americans comng out of WWII. I loved Maggie Lane and wanted to spend more time with her, especially as she tried to reconcile her own life and ambition with the persona she embodied on TV.

3.5 stars

I enjoyed this sweet, cozy read set in 1950s New York. It was very readable, just a bit slow for my tastes given the low stakes and the dreaded lack of communication trope which, you know, resolved everything as soon as the secrets came out.

The main characters felt a little bland as well. The letters between Maggie and her audience were actually my favourite parts of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for allowing me to read an eARC copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Anita Abriel for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

I was very fortunate to have read this book, and while I find it extremely lovely it certainly had its flaws. This is one of three books I have recently read set in the backdrops of the World War era, and it's very entertaining to see how different people tell the stories.

① Plot and writing - Following our protagonist, Maggie Lane, the host of the Maggie Lane Baking Show, we're thrust into the world of daytime television. But problems are brewing at home, with her boyfriend- now husband - Teddy, who suffers from night sweats and is hiding something about his past from Maggie, the only problem is Maggie has secrets of her own.

The writing was entertaining, especially with the switching between two timelines. It was very seamless and somewhat predictable, but very enjoyable.

② Characters - All the characters were so interesting and being able to flesh out distinctive characters in less than 300 pages, especially for modern books is amazing. I loved Maggie, Dolly, Alan and even Teddy, despite his flaws. The side stories of Maggie's listeners and Dolly were so entertaining.

Maggie is very sceptical, and as you read along you'll discover why. She's also smart and hardworking and deserves everything she has. She is not perfect and makes missteps but that's what makes her likeable. Her genuine concern and love for everyone around her, especially Teddy is heartwarming.

Despite Teddy being closed off and sometimes having a mean streak it's clear he cares about Maggie he just doesn't know how to express himself properly.

③ Conclusion - This was a three-half star read for me. I enjoyed it but I wish there was more to it, the main conflict was resolved in a chapter and a simple conversation and truthfully that's all it takes sometimes but the secret was made to be bigger than it actually was. But I would definitely recommend this to anyone who's looking for a quick easy, sometimes heartwarming read.


Reading Progress

This engaging novel explores the expectations of women’s roles in the 40s and 50s. Easy to read and hard to put down, I enjoyed the “women power” theme. Readers of Lessons in Chemistry may enjoy it.

This one had a lot of potential. It started off strong but as it continued, I found myself struggling with it more and more.

My first issue was that the writing and dialogue felt very clunky and at times, characters seemed to contradict themselves from the beginning of a paragraph to the end (but it did not feel like an intentional writing choice). I appreciated that the author tried to tackle pretty big subjects (PTSD, anti-Semitism, addiction and abuse of prescription medication, body image, etc.) but, maybe because of how short the book was, the story did not have the depth necessary for such topics. Most things were tied up with a very simple bow by the end, which felt unrealistic. Even the main conflict of the story was handled very quickly and with an HEA that didn’t feel particularly realistic either.

Maggie herself also frustrated me. She allowed so much to just happen to her. I was unsure why she was lauded the way she was, which felt like an issue with her characterization. Though I wanted to pull for her, I just found myself annoyed more and more.

Again, I think this one had so much potential, and so many of the things that Maggie dealt with as a career woman unfortunately remain relevant, but the execution lacked quite a bit.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank You Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for an advanced copy of this book.

I really enjoyed reading this book. What drew me in was the setting and the plot of American Housewife. Maggie gets an offer to have her own baking show on tv, instead of the radio. With being on tv, comes a lot of drama in her life. On tv she has to appear perfect, but at home in her personal life things are not perfect.

I have really been enjoying the historical fiction books and I think this is the perfect book to add to the collection.

Loved the time period of this story. It added elements that most people wouldn't consider today. Good story and an enjoyable book.

I found American Housewife to be a quick and enjoyable read. Maggie is a relatable character. She does everything she can to make herself and those around her happy. Somehow, she manages to do that with a balance that I envy. But even with that balance, this story shows the ridiculous pressures put on women to do it all and do it without ruffling feathers.

Lessons in Chemistry meets Mad Men in this insightful work about stardom in America. Clever and compelling.

This fell flat for me. It felt like there were no stakes. Everything came easy to Maggie and it all resolved easily too. I loved the descriptors of the characters, setting and details of the time period, but the plot never quite picked up speed.

Maggie wants to become successful tv star after doing commercials for a tv station in America. But after losing her one true love and almost marrying g another man even though she doesn’t love him, she stills wants to find the dream she craves.

When she gets her own show, she must marry the man who loves so she portrays herself as a housewife, especially to,all the woman who watch the show.

As she learns to be a wife and tv star, some things fall apart and she must learn what is important to her or she may lose everything that she wants.

Maggie Lane’s dreams come true in New York City 1950, when she lands her own baking television show. As she plays the ideal housewife on tv, cracks begin to show in her personal life.

This is an interesting book if you enjoy stories that take place in the 1950’s and deal with women breaking the mold. It’s similar to Lessons in Chemistry, but without the extra humor and wit. I don’t mean that as criticism; this story is just more serious. There are past traumas that are slowly revealed but shape the characters. It was a valuable story that exemplified a woman ahead of her time that still had challenges, despite the support she had.

American Housewife comes out 3/11.

I have to admit that the cover of this book alone drew my attention immediately and I instantly knew I needed to read this new release from Anita Abriel. Set in the 1940's'/50s this book covered themed that women around the world will find relatable to this day and it must be said that throughout, this book felt current and relevant to modern day society. Raising the question of can a woman truly have it all? We were taken on a journey with a female character so many of us reading will be able to resonate with.

I devoured this book in one sitting thanks to not only it being a short read but how easy it was to get lost into defining a true page turner. The focus on a woman's career in the time period the book was set in we see our protagonist experience unexpected popularity and her career go beyond what both she and her husband could have predicted and as the story progress we get to see how the career success of a woman impacted not only her but her husband and marriage. Throughout we get flashbacks that allow us to understand our main character even more and further allow the read to connect with the story and character. I do think things maybe happened too quickly in this book and certain problems faced were solved too quickly however this may simply fall down to this being a short read and doesn't take away from the compelling and relatable story that was told.

Thank you for an ARC of this book NetGalley. I zoomed through this book. It was good enough. The writing needed to be more dynamic. I liked the characters but felt like there was always so much build up and then everything was easily resolved. I never felt like Maggie’s past was something so dramatic that could have ruined her life. I was rooting for her but ultimately, and sadly, this book just fell short for me. I never like criticizing authors because it takes a lot of guts to put your hard work out for the world. I wouldn’t say I disliked this book, I just think it needed more depth. I finished it in a day so it was entertaining enough to keep me going.

What happens when radio personality in the 1950s is given the opportunity to be on a television show about baking? The main problem with this being that she doesn't know how to bake!

Maggie Lane is an intelligent and ambitious woman who finds herself using her stardom to do things that she never had plans to do. Unfortunately, this comes with consequences - not least for her marriage!

This is a fascinating slice of Americana set three quarters of a century ago. But it's a story that will still have resonance for women in the workplace today, and Maggie is a winsome protagonist. A very enjoyable and easy read, it gets 3.5 stars from me, and would probably get 4 stars from a reader with a strong interest in American social history.

This snapshot of 1950s New York City was a fun read telling the story of Maggie Lane, an actress who becomes the host of a baking show despite having no knowledge of baking. The book flashes back to moments in her past as she works through her sudden marriage, deals with her rising fame, and helps a friend confront her own issues. The book touches on the social morés of the time and the conflict between career and marriage that many women felt. The descriptions are rich and engaging. Maggie seems to have very good luck and it would have been interesting to learn more about her past and early days in New York to add more depth to the character.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. My expectations for the storyline was completely different than what actually ended up happening, but I am actually really happy about that.

First of all, the baking show. I am the perfect target audience for that kind of thing (no, I will not admit how many hours I have spent in my life watching baking shows). The subtle (and not so subtle) sexism on set and the expectations set on Maggie have been really well incorporated. I loved to see how she starts to use her platform to empower women and encourage them to be more than housewives, while at the same time we see how she struggles with it all in the context of her marriage to Teddy.

Maggie and Teddy were both really endearing characters. The flashbacks to Maggie's past gave us some important context, though I do wish they would have been a bit less jarring in the way they were incorporated. Their marriage struggles felt very real and made a lot of sense in the context of the time.

Overall my favorite thing about this book was probably Maggie’s friendship with Dolly and all the heavier themes that came with it, and the very relatable way in which Maggie felt helpless and just wanted to be there for her friend.

Generally this book has a lot of themes around women supporting women and I’m always here for that (especially in times like these).

Anyways, if you like historical fiction set in the 1950s, centering the lives of women and their struggles, you will probably enjoy this.

“American Housewife” is a historical fiction book by Anita Abriel. This book takes place in the 1950s - the early days of television when anyone (seemingly) could become a star overnight. This book follows Maggie Lane as she gets her big break and becomes the host of “The Maggie Lane Baking Show.” The fact that Maggie cannot cook is okay - the sponsor of the show is a cake mix company and Maggie has time to learn how to do more complex baking/cooking. The show takes off - and Maggie becomes famous … somewhat to the frustration of her new husband, who wants to make a name for himself in the radio world. I thought the premise of this book was interesting, until I realized that the author basically took a story with 2020 themes and set it back in a 1950s scene (though, there are some stereotypical 1950s themes too). My biggest complaint, though, is that Maggie runs into issues - but a few paragraphs later, problem solved. I never felt the suspense I wanted to feel about the threats hanging over her head - or even the possible issues regarding her friends. I think that there is an audience for this book - but I think I was expecting Maggie to be a bit more like Lucile Ball being both a businesswoman and an actress; Maggie’s storyline was more about quickly resolved conflicts. This wasn’t the book I was hoping it could be, but I think those who like lighter historical fiction books would find this book interesting.