Book review : Recipe For A Perfect Wife - Karma Brown

Just a quick look at the title and the cover image for Karma Brown's new book, Recipe For A Perfect Wife, released this week by Legend Press, would be enough to have most modern feminists baying for blood. The picture of the perfectly manicured and (one would imagine) coiffed and made-up wife in a pretty but oh-so-impractical dress, the suggestion that a woman should want no more than to make her husband happy, the idea that cooking is very much a woman's prerogative … they may all seem unethical and reductive, not to say just plain wrong, in today's world of equal rights, but that is actually the point. The book is written in a dual narrative, giving both of its female characters the chance to tell their stories.

First, we meet Alice Hale, a modern day woman, who, at the age of 29, has reluctantly followed her husband from Manhattan to the suburbs, giving up her career to be a writer. As she tries to decide what to do with her life and fill her days in their big, empty house, Alice uncovers a vintage cookbook in the cellar. As Alice starts working her way through the old-fashioned recipes, she discovers that the previous owner, 1950's housewife Nellie Murdoch, left clues about her less-than-perfect life in the notes that she jotted amongst the recipes. While outwardly, she appears to be very Stepford Wives, Nellie secretly hopes and dreams for a whole lot more. As Alice follows her story, it makes her think deeply about her own predicament and the choices she has. Although some sixty years separate the two women, there are many parallels that show that women may not have progressed as far as they'd like to think !

It's an enjoyable read, with engaging characters and a thought-provoking look back at the past. It reminded me of watching an episode of Cold Case (I'm showing my age now !), with the action repeatedly flipping back in time, giving the characters from the past a chance to reveal their thoughts and the limitations that society puts on them. Both of the characters feel trapped but how will they deal with it? And what lessons are in there for us all to take notice of?

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : £8.99

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Legend Press (4 Feb. 2020)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1789559790
• ISBN-13: 978-1789559798
• Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 1.8 x 13 cm 

Karma Brown is the bestselling author of four novels and is a National Magazine Award winning journalist. Karma lives just outside Toronto, Canada with her husband, daughter, and a labradoodle named Fred. @KarmaKBrown

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Disclosure : I received a review copy of the book.