I wanted to like this one a lot more than I did. I'm glad that I gave it a shot but it just didn't work for me.

I spent most of yesterday reading this book (I just couldn't stop), but I waited until this morning to mark it as completed because I couldn't decide for the life of me if I wanted to rate this 4 or 5 stars. For now, I'm putting it at a 5. This is one of those books that gets me irritated...but at myself. Let me tell you why.

I received this book on NetGalley back in 2015. I had just joined and requested a bunch of titles thinking that I wouldn't get approved for anything, but surprise, surprise, I received most of them and was immediately overwhelmed. That's how this book ended up languishing away on my NetGalley shelf for nearly 6 years. But it was a goal of mine to clear out some of this backlog in 2021, so I binged through this on New Year's Day.

The whole time I was reading this, I was thinking: you mean to tell me I had this good of a book collecting virtual dust bunnies on NetGalley when I was busy reading dud after dud in 2020?

I'm not surprised this has a low average rating here on Goodreads (although I tend not to take those that seriously and I talk about why here: https://youtu.be/tEvZK5kPO1w). This book is highly sexual and it's a little on the pretentious side. But I'll allow it that because this book is so, so smart. It's essentially a modern take on Anna Karenina focusing on an expat American housewife living in Switzerland with her Swiss banker husband. She's bored and unhappy, regularly cheating on her husband, attending German classes, and seeing a highly Fruedian psychologist.

That summary sounds pretty blasé, but what Alexander Essbaum does with this book is extraordinary. She uses the language around language learning and dreams to communicate Anna's inner turmoil, fears, and desires. Though Anna as a character is reserved and submissive, her inner world is combusting.

If you're not into artsy fartsy literary fiction, I wouldn't recommend it. But if you've been on a Sylvia Plath kick like I have been since devouring Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath, I can't recommend it enough.

This author writes well and the story was interesting and unique but as the book progressed the main character became less and less likable. I wanted to sympathize with her but struggled to.

Really enjoyable read. Good characters and a Good story. Well worth a read. Think others will. Enjoy

Depressing story, did not enjoy. It began as an interesting enough book but then just seemed to ramble.

HAUSFRAU - Jill Alexander Essbaum

BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN - 4 stars

Plot - 4 stars - Anna is a lonely American ex-pat who lives in Switzerland with her husband and children. On the outside, her life seems fine and could certainly be happy and fulfilling. But, instead she is dissatisfied and searching for something else. Being a housewife and mother do not motivate her, so she finds herself indulging in affairs as a stopgap. But these don't make her happy either, so she is constantly in a state of disillusionment.

Writing - 4.5 stars - I really didn't like Anna and found her ennui to be positively annoying, causing me to frequently roll my eyes. But I found myself compelled to keep turning the pages. I quickly became involved in the story and wanted to see what difficulties she'd create for herself next. The writing is beautiful, using intricate wording, insightful comparisons, and thought-provoking questions and comments. Essbaum is a new-to-me author, and I felt swept along in her story despite my misgivings. I loved the fact that there were so many connections, weaving the story together. Each of the German lessons seemed to determine what Anna would contemplate (and what mistakes she would make) next. As well, her discussions with her therapist would also indicate the direction of her thoughts and actions, helping to clarify her thoughts (as well as provide the reader with a heads-up). I loved the wordplay Essbaum created. Phrases such as "threadbare gaze," "compass her through the city," and "She saw herself in the window and reflected upon her reflection" all built a picture that was so clear and underlyingly beautiful despite the bleak view of the main character.

Characters - 3.5 stars - Anna was frustratingly passive, so much so that her life felt beyond her control. But instead of a positive approach, making changes, she instead became totally isolated and didn't make any attempts for improvement. She'd drift into affairs, relationships, activities, without any real direction. Or even paying attention. It was incredibly sad to watch her almost-live her life, even though on the surface it seemed that she had everything. She was married, had 3 children, lived in Zurich in a comfortable home, didn't have to work, had her mother-in-law living nearby as a free babysitter, but none of it was enough. She had a tendency toward the dramatic, talking herself into unhappiness by unhealthily focusing on the negative and embellishing it.

Title - 4 stars - Simple, in the German so you know it's not the usual American story.

Cover - 4 stars - Lovely cover with pastel colors and lots of flowers. Definitely an eye-catcher.

Overview - 4 stars - I definitely had a love-hate relationship with this book. Anna and her pessimistic attitude drove me crazy because it seemed so unnecessary and self-indulgent. But, at the same time, I was compelled to continue to turn the pages. She was such an intelligent and thoughtful person that it was a shame that she wasted her time on misery and self-loathing. However, it was also fascinating to follow her thoughts and see why and how she came to the conclusions she did and to wonder why she continued to make the same mistakes. A jarring note to me was the time format. I found it confusing to jump from past to present, back to past again, seemingly randomly. I'd adjust quickly, but for a moment it was confusing and disjointed. Was this the effect the author was going for? Perhaps. The ending was predictable, when I thought about it, but it still shocked and surprised me. I totally loved how the last pages were handled and and written, leaving me with a totally satisfactory ending.

<i>I received </i>Hausfrau<i> through NetGalley and Random House in exchange for an honest and original review. All thoughts are my own.</i>

I finished reading <i>Hausfrau</i> on my second attempt at it. I can't remember why I quit before, but I can admit it was a little hard not to quit this time. Essbaum's story is *just* good enough to see completely through.

It is a very adult themed story that jumps right into infidelity, unapologetic sex, and a vague sense of mental and verbal abuse. Consider those your trigger warnings.

As I read, I remembered that one of my issues with the book the first time we met was that the conversations between Anna and her psychiatrist seems so randomly dropped into the story that the narrative is harmed by the interruptions. There had to have been a better way to include both the therapy and the home life. To be fair, my copy was an ARC so perhaps that is better handled in the finished copies.

The story seems to say that Bruno, Anna's cold but dedicated husband, should be the antagonist in her life but... it's almost as though he's too bland and underdeveloped. Also, she treats him horribly sometimes so it's easy to feel sympathy for him. Perhaps Anna is her own antagonist? She does seem to surround herself with horrible men, by choice and odd desire.

The heart of the novel is very much adultery and the self-loathing that follows it. Anna is constantly seeking absolution, from herself, her children, her husband, her lovers, her friends, her psychiatrist, from her sins. She never really finds any. Even from the reader (or at least this one) it's hard to feel sympathy and to cheer for her happiness. Especially after her son catches her cheating and she quickly manipulates and threatens him into silence.

In the end, I see this book as a sort of modern retelling of <i>Anna Karenina</i>, not just because of the final scene. It's not a very good comparison, modern companion. But I'm glad I read it and finished it.

Wow! I never realized how interesting reading about an affair could be!

This book was good in small doses. It is very well written and the story is clear and well developed. I felt as though there was so much in the descriptions and imagery I wanted to skip sections just to find the main point of the story. The main character is very well developed, and sadly very much like a real person. Her restlessness and lack of appreciation for he life and the things and people she has around her is astounding and at times I found myself irritated with her.