Karma Brown has created the perfect book for escape reading. Moving back and forth between the 1950’s and 2018, it is the story of two wives. Alice currently lives in the suburban New York home with her husband, and the other Nellie lived there in the 1950’s with her husband. Alice wants to write a book, but can’t get any good ideas, that is until she finds letters written by Nellie in the 1950’s along with Nellie’s recipe book. She becomes immersed in Nellie’s live and the story line parallels there lives in trying to be the perfect wife. Each chapter is prefaced with wifely advice from the early 20th century. Things have changed, but its still challenging for a woman to lead her own life out of the shadow of her husband.

Recipe for a Perfect Wife
Karma Brown
Dutton, 21 Jan 2020
336 pages
Women’s Lit
Provided by NetGalley
⭐⭐⭐🌙

I like the concept of the cover with one exception. Can you guess what it is? If you’ve been reading my reviews for any length of time about cover art, I’ll bet you can. Yup! Uncover that poor woman’s face! I know, she’s supposed to be the unknown housewife from the past that’s been writing all these crazy recipes and notes, but this is just a bit weird.

Can anyone tell me why women always go along with what the man wants when it comes to buying a house? If he wants to live in the city and she wants the country, they live in a city condo. If she wants to live in the city and work, but he wants to live in the country to golf, he gets the best country club membership around and she has to garden to compete with all the club wives whether she knows how or not.

Well, in this book, we have two wives. One is from the 1950s when women put some of the “most interesting” combinations together in a dish and called it a casserole or salad. When women put everything but the kitchen sink in jello and served it up to company with a dab of mayonnaise or whipped topping. This wife also has a very green thumb and grows some very interesting things in her garden. She is never seen without a long-sleeved top on in any weather.

The other wife is a modern wife. She wanted to stay in the city and keep her job, but she goofed up and ended up getting fired. But she hasn’t told her husband that. Her husband bought her this wonderful big house in the country with this fabulous garden. It just needs a bit of fixing up. It’s a bit neglected these days. She says it’s more house than they can handle, but he says they’ll work on it. But he goes off to work every day and she’s left at home to try to fix it up a bit here and a bit there. But they really don’t have the money to do much fixing up. She meets the next-door neighbor who tells her a little bit about the former owner and she gets curious. She pokes around the house a bit and finds a cookbook. The cookbook is full of recipes with notes in the margins and added ingredients. She starts making some of these recipes and getting fascinated with the era. She does some 1950s decorating around the house and dresses in the styles of the time.

The modern housewife reads the cookbook, listens to the next-door neighbor, and researches the previous housewife. She comes to some conclusions about things. She finds magazines in the cellar with notes and more recipes tucked in them and figures some things out from there. What does she find out about the former housewife’s husband and his demise? What does she find out about her new garden and the old cookbook? What does she do about it? Will we find out answers to all of these questions in Recipe for the Perfect Wife? I found parts of the book to drag and just go over some similar ground for too long or to seem to go into scenes that didn’t seem to move the book forward. This happened, particularly in the 50s party parts. Too much detail made things drag. Though for the most part, it was quite good. I’d recommend it for those who like period pieces of the 50s.

I didn't like this: dialogue, plot, characterization--none of it worked well.



Review copy provided by publisher.

Karma Brown never disappoints! This book was so wonderfully put together and I couldn't wait to get back to it whenever I would stop reading for the day! I highly recommend this book if you're looking for a feel-good, relatable book!

The story was okay but suffered from a lack of dynamic writing. The main character was also not very likable, which can work really well sometimes, but in this case she was not fleshed out enough for me to understand or empathize with her. I also have to say I really did not care for the ending, which was rather abrupt and sort of a 180 from the rest of the book (a reason was given for this but it was not a reason I found believable).

Adored this dual timeline book from Karma Brown. The story of Nellie in the 1950’s has me rooting her on, and same for Alice! These women were super strong and stood up for what themselves, without being overbearing or making a show of it. Also loved the quotes at the beginning of each chapter and the recipes. Highly recommend!

I really loved this! The summary reminded me of Julie & Julia but it was really so much more! This book sucked me in. I loved the back and forth timelines between Nellie and Alice. It was darker than I expected but so worth the read.

Short Summary: When Alice and her husband leave New York City to live in the suburbs, she immerses herself in piecing together the life of the woman who lived there before from an old cookbook that was left behind.

Thoughts: The story is told from the viewpoint of Alice in the present day and Nellie, a housewife from the 1950s, but the similarities the author attempted to draw between the two characters were fairly baseless.

Verdict: This story ended up being shockingly dark and while I love a good ambiguous ending, this one leaves you with far more questions and fewer answers.

Absolutely could not put this book down. Well written, amazing prose, great characters, and TWO stellar endings. Will be recommending for book groups! Cannot wait to see what Karma brown writes next!

Alice, a new homeowner, finds magazines, a recipe book, and notes from Nellie the previous 1950s owner. She discovers things about Nellie and uses some of this information to help discover things about herself and her marriage. Topics explored include pressure to have children, miscarriage, spousal abuse, lies and more lies. These issues give the book some substance which would otherwise be lacking.

This is a sweet novel interspersed with recipes that you could probably try and make at home. I found it delightful to read, and the perfect novel to while away the winter blues.

The sun always returned…as long as you were strong enough to wait for it.

I’m a huge fan of Women’s Fiction so when I saw this title available on Netgalley I immediately had to request it. The synopsis was intriguing and I’ve always been interested in the lives of women in the 1950s.

As we all know, life wasn’t fair nor was it easy. Hell, it’s not fair for us now but we’ve come a long way and for that we can be grateful.

This is a dual narrative between two women. Eleanor “Nellie” Murdoch the perfect 1950s housewife and Alice Hale, a recently fired publicist who moves from NYC to the suburbs with her husband, Nate.

Alice and Nellie’s paths collide unexpectedly when Alice moves into the latter’s house and finds her vintage cookbook in the basement. Alice is used to the hustle and bustle of the city and is having more than a hard time adjusting to suburban life. She’s having an even harder time trying to become the woman that Nate wants. Essentially barefoot and pregnant.

As we navigate through the story and Nellie’s recipes and letters we not only learn about the uh…creativity of 50s cuisine but the hardships that Nellie faced and maybe a warning to Alice in the form of ham dip.

From the beginning this was a fun and interesting read for me. I really enjoyed both of the main characters although Alice at most points did wear on me. I felt for her however. I never felt as though she was able to voice her opinions and she was never given a direct choice with HER body. Nate was very adamant about when they would have a baby and that irked me. A lot.

We do see a lot of development with her character later on which is what a book should do. The same occurs with Nellie. She is the epitome of a perfect housewife. She’s beautiful, cooks like a goddess, gardens divinely, has a rich husband. But behind closed doors life isn’t so easy…Her husband is cruel and cheats constantly. She hides faded bruises and longs for a simpler life.

Parallel to Alice who longs for her life back in NYC where she can simply go back to her cramped apartment and not worry about garbage pick up day.

Overall this was a really enjoyable book. The ending to me was a bit disappointing but I was still satisfied and proud of Alice. It was bittersweet but necessary and we will take NO shit from men especially going into 2020.

My dahlias continue to bloom.

If these walls could talk....Recipe for a Perfect Wife is an unputdownable story of two women living in the same house 60 years apart. This story is full of secrets that kept me turning the pages. This is my first book by Karma Brown and I will be checking out her previous books. I also enjoyed the 1950's era recipes!

Alice has a few qualms about leaving her high-octane job in New York City to play housewife in the suburbs. Officially, she's taking time to write a novel and make a baby. The real story is too mortifying to share with her doting husband. Rather than focus on either of her assigned tasks, Alice delves into the life of her new home's last occupant, a young '50s housewife named Nellie. Her annotated cookbook, sizeable magazine collection, and unsent letters to her mother reveal unexpected depth and lessons for Alice in her turmoil. Both halves of the dual narrative work, though Nellie is far more compelling.

I love cookbooks so this was a cute concept to me--a modern-day woman connecting with the former owner of her house via the notes a woman left behind in a cookbook in the 1950s. The fact that it turned sinister was a little unexpected but it was a fun read.

This was a lovely distraction from my normal reading genre. Nellie is dealing with a marriage that isn't what she expected and Annie is dealing with something. I think that is the only missing part for me. I was never able to figure Annie out. And, I don't think Annie could figure Annie out. But starting out by lying to her spouse and keeping secrets wasn't a good way to go. I loved how each chapter begun with a snippet from some horribly dated misogynistic magazine article or book then possibly followed by a retro recipe. The one recipe I would have really liked to try included cloves in chocolate chip cookies. (I have already googled and found several options.) As is usually the case for me, I was more interested in one timeline over the other. In this case, it was Nellie. I enjoyed how she dealt with her marital situation while still remaining a good housewife! It made me want to make tuna casserole and Baked Alaska!

I love dual timelines especially when the two heroines are pretty lock step in their lives even in different time periods. Nellie, in the 1950s, is adjusting to married life and it’s expectations while Alice, present day, is trying to adjust to being a stay at home wife and her own expectations of what that is supposed to mean.

Needless to say their stressors are different but similar. Each is trying to figure out how and where they belong while trying to be a “perfect” wife.

Parts of the novel were predictable but overall I enjoyed the two women characters immensely and Ms. Brown’s writing is always seamless.

Told in dual timelines, RECIPE FOR A PERFECT WIFE by Karma Brown was completely engrossing from start to finish. The dual perspective format is split between Nellie, a housewife in the 1950s, and Alice, a housewife in 2018. While decades apart, Alice moves into Nellie’s old house in the present day, and discovers the young woman’s secretive letters to her mother. What follows is a parallel narrative between Nellie and Alice, and how each of them deals with the stereotypes and pressures of being a homemaker in their respective times. What I found most interesting about this novel is the similarities between the anxieties and struggles these women face, despite the obvious time difference. Overall, I think this novel does a great job of showcasing not only how far we’ve come in terms of gender equality, but how far we still need to go. I also found it especially interesting how each chapter begins with quotes taken from magazines and cookbooks on the expected comportment of housewives in the early 20th century. While none of it surprised me, these quotes left me seriously exasperated (which I believe is the intention). Nonetheless, I appreciated these historical tidbits — they helped ground the story in its intended subject, which ultimately revolves around heterosexual marital relations and domestic gender roles. If the history of gender equality in this context is something that interests you (like me!), then I would definitely recommend this book.

As requested by the publisher, this review will only be posted to my main platform (http://instagram.com/inquisitivebookworm) closer to the release date on 1/21/2020.

Nellie Murdoch had everything. A beautiful home, a husband who was a successful businessman, and a garden full of beautiful flower. She was the picture perfect example of a 1950's housewife. But behind closed doors, Nellie was left bruised by her husband and restless on most days.

In 2018, Alice Hale and her husband buy a house outside of Manhattan. Alice has left her job in PR rather suddenly. As Alice learns more and more about the house's previous owner Nellie, she finds that secrets that wives keep from their husbands are often the most damaging of all.

Karma Brown has taken a premise (two time periods, 1950s housewives) and brought something darker, something more...meaty to this book. Nellie and Alice are both strong women who are being held back by husbands who think they know better and ...somehow, together, they both come out on top.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The premise of the book is Alice, a former working woman who has moved out to Greenville, a suburb outside of Manhattan with her husband Nick with the goal of writing a novel. She and Nick have been married for two years and everything is great. As long as she gets her way. It's an overgeneralization for sure but it crops up several times in the narrative when she's going through the basement, she finds a box labeled "Kitchen" from the previous owner, Nellie. Inside are old Ladies Home Journal Magazines and a Cookbook. Because she is procrastinating on writing her novel and has nothing better to do, she begins cooking, something she never did in Manhattan.


And this is where the story sours for me.


As much as I love the writing style and Nellie's character who we get to see through alternating chapters, the message in this book is dangerous. Nellie is in an abusive relationship, she is committed to not bringing children into a volatile environment and so miscarriages the babies. However, Alice is immature, noncommunicative and paranoid.


When there is a clear divide in the roles, man being the sole provider, there need to be standards met. However Alice never talks about what she needs, she never voices her concerns and when she is in trouble at work, she opts to keep secrets from her spouse instead of working through them together. There is a clear 'us vs them' mentality that sours even the best of relationships. I had no empathy for her because she was sitting around the house all day (There wasn't any mention of her sitting around watching television, which I thought was very unrealistic.). She wasn't working on her novel, she's actively lying to family and friends and to what end?


This book was good in its irony. By showing us the modern wife in Alice, we see all the things that we shouldn't be doing. All the things that we should strive not to be. She's selfish, ungrateful and manipulative.


The book is good. I raced through it easily. But I urge you to take it as a novel and nothing else.