Thank you NetGalley, Sourcebook Landmark and Meagan Church for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of The Mad Wife.
This is an emotional, gripping novel of motherhood, identity and societal norms set in the 50’s that will shock you in more ways than one. I grew up in the 60’s and remember the difficulties women had with opinions, feelings and finding a place in a man’s world. My aunt received electro-shock therapy as she couldn’t deal with life. As a small child, I was scared of the situation and it was shoved under the rug. Mental health has come a long way-thank goodness!
The characters are fully developed, filled with emotion and I felt like I was living right in their midst. I cared about all of them and didn’t want the story to end.
The plot is fast paced with quite a few surprises. Loved the S &H green stamps! What a walk down memory lane.
This is the first Meagan Church I have read. I will definitely read her backlist and look forward to new releases.

🥧 There are books you forget the second you finish that last page, and there are books that linger in your thoughts long after. This definitely lands in the latter category. Thank you so much to @bookmarked for the sneak peek— this is out September 30th.

🥧 This book centers itself around a 1950’s housewife living in suburban America. She is postpartum and struggling— but nobody wants to talk about her reality. Not her husband, not her girlfriends, not her somewhat-estranged mother— making her feel isolated and alone.

🥧 She’s also afraid, because Lulu is spiraling in the days of diagnoses of ‘hysteria,’ tranquilizer prescriptions and lobotomies.

🥧 This book made me so thankful for how far society has come surrounding mental health. For the most part, women are no longer forced to suffer in silence. Women talk more about how they’re feeling, especially in those tender postpartum years. We lean on each other in a way our moms and grandmothers never did. I fully acknowledge there’s still a long way to go— but we really have come a long way.

🥧 Overall, I liked the way this book made me think and reflect. I actually wondered a lot about my own grandmothers’ experience raising kids in this time period. I felt for Lulu and wanted to give her a big hug. This serves as a reminder that anything you’re feeling— someone else is likely feeling too. Again, this is out Sept. 30!

This story drops the reader perfectly into the life of a 1950s suburban housewife. The scheduled life of chores and shopping and cooking, the loneliness of being home alone all day, the expectations to look put together and entertain and support your husband's career aspirations. And then of course the responsibilities and the constant changing of identity that accompany motherhood. Meagan Church immerses us in this world and builds a picture of domesticity that, on further examination, isn't what it seems at all. As our main character, Lulu, begins to lose her grip on reality, we are left to question what is real and what is imagined.

Halfway through the book, we're hit with a major twist and the pace and tone of the story change dramatically. I didn't want to stop reading! I had to know what would happen next, and I was rooting hard for Lulu to find her voice and stand up for herself. If you're looking for a domestic suspense that will transport you to the 1950s, give you the ultimate unreliable narrator experience, and keep you turning pages, this one will not disappoint!

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC! all thoughts and opinions are my own ✨

this book had a lot of potential—so much that i'm almost impressed with how skillfully it managed to squander it. i was promised a tense, unputdownable story—which, unfortunately, proved to be a gross exaggeration. the pacing was slow, most of the characters were flat, and the twists were underwhelming and anticlimactic.

i can appreciate what the author was trying to do here: showcase the horrifying truth of being a housewife in the 1950s. in an era where "tradwife" culture and "divine femininity" (gross) have been making a much-undeserved comeback, we need these kinds of brutal, unflinching tales now more than ever. and while i was repulsed by lulu's day-to-day life as a stay-at-home mother, i found myself constantly waiting for more. where was the eeriness? where was the tension? where was the insidious, unshakeable feeling that something was well and truly wrong?

the big twist near the 70% mark sort of felt like a bait-and-switch. the storyline changed so suddenly that it felt like i was reading a completely different book. and then, after a few quickfire chapters, it was just... over? the resolution was that easy? make it make sense.

while i do sympathize with lulu and the thousands of women who lived a life like hers, i can't find it in myself to recommend this book. if you're on the hunt for some historical fiction that sticks to its claims and actually elicits a sense of unease, you're better off looking somewhere else.

Set against the backdrop of the 1950s, The Mad Wife pulls back the curtain on the “perfect” suburban home to reveal the cracks beneath. On the surface, Lulu is the ideal wife and mother, praised for her hospitality and her colorful jello salads. But as her husband chases a promotion, the demands of a growing family mount, and new neighbors move in, Lulu’s carefully polished world begins to slip.

Her fascination with her ever-smiling neighbor Bitsy becomes an unsettling thread, especially as Lulu struggles with her own past, her fraying marriage, and the weight of expectations that leave her feeling unseen and unheard. What begins as a portrait of domestic bliss gradually descends into something far more disturbing, leading to a twist that reframes everything and lingers long after the final page.

Church captures both the suffocating roles imposed on women of the era and the stigma around mental health, when women’s suffering was too often dismissed as “hysteria.” The story is heavy but compelling, offering a mix of suspense, social commentary, and quiet empathy.

The Mad Wife is an unsettling yet eye-opening read, perfect for readers drawn to women’s history, domestic noir, or novels that explore the darker side of picture-perfect suburbia.

It's the 1950s and we meet the happy, perfect wives who know how to entertain and take care of their family.

Everything isn't as perfect as it seems, though.

Lulu knew she had to make good impressions on everyone especially since they loved her jello salads.

Things changed after her husband was trying to get a promotion, she had a second baby, new neighbors moved in, and Lulu became obsessed with the new neighbor Bitsy and overwhelmed with her life.

Lulu struggled every day and tried to cope with no help from her husband, and she couldn't figure out why Bitsy was always smiling?

We follow Lulu as she tries to be the perfect wife, tries to figure out if she is going mad, and tries to find out what really is going on with Bitsy.

Then you will have your jaw drop at the twist and will be glad you weren't a housewife at that time….housewives who cared for everyone but themselves.

THE MAD WIFE is an unsettling read, but also an enlightening one.

This book will be another favorite for fans of Meagan Church. 5/5

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

haunting and intense novel about a woman in around 1950 who is trying desperately to cram herself into the mold of a 1950s housewife and slowly starts to get worse and worse mentally. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

'...sometimes forgetting is a mercy, and recalling is a pain too deep to bear'.

Lulu is a model 1950s housewife, much like her acclaimed moulded salads; a picture of gelatinised perfection. With her handy Good Housewife weekly chore schedule and other neighbouring housewives to play cards with and talk about what goodies to next redeem with their sticker book loyalty, life is as peachy as a pie. However, it soon becomes clear that Lulu is increasingly struggling to keep up the facade. She doesn't sleep well at night, she's plagued by what happened to her brother long ago, convinced that her mother blames her. As her husband becomes more consumed with working late nights and trying to secure a promotion, it is Lulu's increasing fascination with the new neighbour though, that finally seems to unravel something darker within her, 'All those weeks, I had focused on the strange woman across the street, but I had missed the mad wife in the mirror'.

The Mad Wife is a slow journey towards delerium. As the story becomes darker and curiouser, you'll wonder how you might climb out of the rabbit hole. Then come the twists and the comprehension that sheds an entirely new light and ultimately offers hope. Megan Church delivers a story not only on the societal expectations of being a wonderful mother and a domestic queen, she also captures a time when all women's ills seemed to fall under the umbrella of 'hysteria', some type of 'housewife syndrome' that could be cured by enough tranquilisers to dull any protest otherwise. Although this is a heavier read, those who enjoy social history and women's history, will take away a lot from this story.

'...I learned to cry silently in the night...so the stillness didn't betray my continual attempt at penance, my effort to be a good obedient girl who was seen, but not heard'.

I love the cover of this book.

This is the story of what it's like to be a 1950s housewife and how you are to act.

My empathy for Lulu was so great I really felt sorry for her as she wanted more than to be a housewife!

This book was great and it gave a good idea of rhat its like and I know I could never have been a housewife back in the 1950s.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review

i have been looking for a book like this all year, but i wasn't sure if this one would live up to the description or not. happy to say it absolutely (ha!) did. it was addicting from the start, and with The Bell Jar being one of my favorite (classic) books, i was already getting excited when i saw the quote in the first part.

Lulu was a very lovable character, somewhat reminiscent of Bunny by Mona Awad. there were a lot of points in the story where she reminded me a lot of myself. and there were other times i was yelling at the page for her to speak up. all the time she thinks of what she could or should say but doesn't, though frustrating, is so unbelievably real that i can't even be mad at her.

the whole story was a ride, and i wasn't expecting what came by part two despite seeing it in the preview. overall i think this whole story is scarily realistic, like it could have happened at any time, and i love it.

unreliable narrator: 5
me: 0

4.5 stars rounded up!

Thank you, NetGalley & Sourcebooks Landmark, for the eARC of The Mad Wife! 🎞️🧠🤱🏻🌀

I love a vintage-looking book cover so The Mad Wife immediately caught my eye!

This book was incredibly well written, from the beginning to the end. I could definitely have finished it in one sitting but I, like Lulu, am a mother and have to tend to a wild child (lol). The suspense and the plot twists kept me on the edge of my seat!

Many parts of this novel felt SO relatable that it hurts! I found myself reading and thinking, “well, she took the words right out of my mouth.”

The ending felt slightly rushed, as I wanted to learn more about other characters in the story but I’m not at all upset at how the main story ended.

All in all, it’s rare to come across a book that is thoroughly enjoyable from beginning, middle, to end, but this book did just that! Although, it ended a little hastily, it was still SO effing good. 🤩

This was my first book by Megan Church but not my last. It started gentle enough but as I kept reading I realized why there was a need for the trigger warnings at the beginning. Reminiscent of The Bell Jar, it was heartbreaking and empowering at the same time.

I received a digital. ARC of this novel from Sourcebooks Landmark via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book is an interesting read about what life was like in the 1950s. How women were expected to be happy housewives, and not let anything get to them. At times, I laughed, and at others I wanted to scream with how Lulu was treated by everyone around her. I look forward to reading more by Meagan Church.

I went into this book not really knowing much I was just extremely drawn in by a) the cover b) the title and c) 1950’s historical fiction.. this was suspenseful, it was totally unexpected and I loved it. Go in blind guys!

ARC releasing 11/4. Lulu is a 1950s housewife and becomes increasingly obsessed with her new neighbor. This was okay. I wanted a lot more out of it and I felt like the ending was rushed. I also feel like it took too much *inspiration* from Sylvia Plath.

Welcome to the life of a 1950s housewife/mother. Many Gen Z'ers have no idea what that life was like. They have no way to know, nor a reason to know. Even their mothers would have missed that decade.

Expectations were high: keep the house clean, raise well-behaved children, cook a wonderful supper for the husband with a career, greet him at the door with a cocktail and hair/makeup in place when he comes home. Life in suburbia. This is just a thumbnail description.

This book tells about the darker side of a 1950s housewife. Lulu is married to Henry, they have 2 young children. After the birth of their second child, Lulu feels like her life does not belong to her anymore. Now, it would be called post-partum depression. Then, the name for it was Hysteria. But, could it be something else altogether? A new neighbour moving in across the street disrupts the status quo and Lulu starts to doubt her own thoughts and actions. Lulu thinks there is something ominous or dark hiding in that house.

This is a hard book to describe. It is simultaneously dark, creepy, suspenseful but also a page turner. As the reader, I had a lot of empathy for Lulu….especially after a huge twist that came in the second half of the book. Totally unexpected.

And, also unexpectedly, I learned a lot from this book. The ending was satisfying to me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

This was a great book! The story was very intense and so hard to put down! If you love historical books that have lots of drama you need this book.

💭: I couldn’t put this book down. I love books set in the 1950’s so I had to read this one! It was much sadder than I expected but the story was told well. This was a time where women could be labeled hysterical and not properly diagnosed, leading to time in an asylum, shock therapy and even lobotomies. Lulu went through a heartbreakingly tragic time and was not acting like herself. Her husband had her committed. This is her story.

There is a twist at the end of part 1 that I did NOT see coming. I had to pause after reading it and really absorb what I had just read. I felt like the last two chapters tried to conclude the story a little quickly and would have liked more. I didn’t want the story to end. It was gut wrenching. I had so much empathy for Lulu. I felt for her husband who thought he was doing the right thing. I felt for her child who went without his mom for a period of time. This book just really made me feel.

I definitely recommend this novel!

Be prepared for your feminine rage to unleash in this historical fiction set in the 1950’s that verges on horror.

Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark for the complimentary ARC!

The silencing of women and medical misdiagnoses– hysteria as a medical diagnosis is brought to life in THE MAD WIFE. This is historical fiction meets domestic drama with a dash of horror deeply rooted in reality, kind of like The Reformatory. It’s eerie how reading about a 1950s housewife’s life can feel so visceral. Dark, depressing, and uncomfortably real, I felt every moment alongside the protagonist.

Then comes the twist: 1950s “medicine” revealed in all its horrendous accuracy, and suddenly you’re reading pure horror. I was fuming for all of womankind, constantly Googling old procedures and drugs as I read. Deeply emotional, Sylvia Plath–influenced, and impossible to put down. A powerful, thought-provoking book club pick, but definitely check the triggers first.

The Mad Wife by Meagan Church
Pub date: September 30, 2025
Genre: Historical Fiction, Horror
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Mad Wife is a dark, gripping psychological thriller that explores obsession, betrayal, and the fine line between love and revenge. The story follows a complex protagonist whose past traumas and present choices collide in ways that are both shocking and deeply compelling. The author masterfully builds tension and suspense, layering twists and secrets that keep readers on edge throughout. Beyond the thrill, the book delves into themes of identity, manipulation, and the power dynamics in relationships, giving the story emotional depth alongside its suspenseful plot. With its richly drawn characters, unpredictable narrative, and relentless pacing, Mad Wife is a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers that linger long after the last page.