- Paperback: 400 pages
- Publisher: Fourth Estate; First Edition edition (2 July 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1841153125
- ISBN-13: 978-1841153124
- Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.2 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,119,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Laurie Graham's much-anticipated novel The Future Homemakers of America introduces us to five American Air force wives stationed at a US airbase in the Norfolk Fens in 1953, the year of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Initially, the women have little in common, except their nationality and husbands who fly with the 68th bomber wing, but they eventually start to socialise.
It soon becomes clear, however, that all is not as it seems. Glamorous redhead Lois is bored with her lot and longs to explore life beyond the confines of the base; when she does, though, the consequences are not quite what she expected. Betty, a true organiser and the most obvious homemaker of the group, makes excellent chocolate brownies and is a wonderful mother but one wonders whether her marriage is all it seems. Her friends aren't quite sure but support her all the same. And there are other hidden dynamics too: the women dare not speak of their fears for their husbands who are warding off potential threats from the Soviets.
As the women expand their horizons, they also get to know some wary locals who live in shocking material circumstances in a grieving England barely recovered from World War II. The glamorous "yanks" befriend the down-to-earth but reticent Kath and mysterious John Pharaoh and subsequently become ministering angels as they dispense freebies and treats to their new friends. But their actions turn out to be much more than "do-gooding". The women themselves are changed by the people and events they encounter in the Norfolk countryside.
Throughout The Future Homemakers of America Graham leads us effortlessly and convincingly on as we follow the lives of the characters across time and geography. All the while, she gives us humorous and often tender insights about women living, loving and adapting--and the forging of bonds that can last a lifetime. --Christina Mcloughlin
Review
'The Future Homemakers of America is a warm, life-affirming novel that offers its readers pure pleasure.' The Times
'This is an absorbing, funny, lively and sometimes moving story.' Sunday Times
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The book follows the lifelong friendship of five U.S. air-force wives: Peggy, Lois, Audrey, Betty, Gayle and their English friend Kath whom they meet when they are based in Norfolk. The story moves from post-war Britain back to the States and is peppered with the historical and social events that touched the lives of these women along the way. It has an easy to read style that is very witty and is one of the few books to which I have laughed out loud; the dog thought I'd gone mad!
However as well as making you laugh it also makes you cry and just when you begin to wonder where the book is going it devlelops into a most surprising climax, that I just didn't see coming. I loved it and would definitely recommend it to anyone!!
However as well as making you laugh it also makes you cry and just when you begin to wonder where the book is going it devlelops into a most surprising climax, that I just didn't see coming. I loved it and would definitely recommend it to anyone!!
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was a Future Homemaker in the American Midwest. But my group never had the adventures to equal this group of American Air Force wives, stationed in the bleak Norfolk of 1951, worried about their pilot husbands, quarreling and helping each other to survive. British readers will gain rare insights into American Air Force attitudes to the natives, especially of Norfolk, the royal family, all-purpose Jello and Velveeta and how to protect the Free World. American readers will blush and laugh at the mirror held up to themselves. And everybody will long for a heroine who can make duck quack noises with her armpits. The book follows the narrator, Peggy Dewey and her friends, Audrey, red-headed Lois, Gayle,homemaker par excellence Betty and the 'native' Kath Pharoah through decades of experience and the reader shares the glow of their friendship. Highly recommended to any one who values a friend. By the way,Future Homemakers are still thriving
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
After a difficult beginning when all the characters were being introduced, I was soon hooked. Living as I do on the Suffolk/Norfolk border I recognised the bleak cold wet Fen and the earthly richness of Kath and her fellow Fen folk. As earthly as the rich earth they live amongst. Events, places, sayings - oh so apt. As a USAF (DW) wife from 1986 to 1995 I could also recognise the ever present spectre of Uncle Sam quietly disapproving of anyone putting the slightest foot wrong. We are transported from cold Fen to Texas to New York to the dizzy heights of Hunstanton and from laughter to tears and all points inbetween. It shows that with a little work friendships are for life, not just an assignment!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Future Homemakers of Americe
I found this book light reading and fun to take away on holiday. The time covered by the novel meant that the book was fairly light hearted although it did try to cover a serious... Read more
Published 9 months ago by chriscrossquiz
Fantastic summer read - an unputdownable book!!!
I borrowed this book recently from a friend on her recommmendation. I can honestly say it is one of the best books I have read in the last 12 months. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Harrys Mum
So good I had to go back and start over!
I had this book sat on my shelf for ages before I actually got around to reading it (I'd grabbed it in a charity shop because the cover appealed to me initially, as is often the... Read more
Published on 17 Dec 2009 by Nicola F (Nic)
A right rollicking read!
After a moderately confusing start where all the characters, their husbands and kids, pets etc were introduced, I soon got into this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. Read more
Published on 23 Jun 2008 by UK reader
A SLICE OF LIFE - WITH THE RECIPIES!
This is an engaging book - I liked the period newspaper cuttings and recipes - especially the refigerator cake! Read more
Published on 20 Nov 2007 by M. Drake
No Don't End... Please
This was the first book by Laurie Graham that I read and it is still my favourite. The story of the wifes of U. Read more
Published on 25 May 2006 by Laura Daly
A lively and engrossing book
This book races along with energy and verve. The characters are strongly drawn and sympathetic. The writing is so good that you feel part of their lives. Read more
Published on 5 April 2006 by Sarah Blake
A joy to read - if predictable
This is a delight from start to finish, a joy and easy to read. The only thing that prevented me giving it five stars was the predictability of some of the characters; you KNEW... Read more
Published on 3 Dec 2002
A wonderful read - so good I read it twice!
This is a book that is difficult to put down once started. It covers the lives of 5 very different women, 4 American and 1 English, over several years from their early 20's and... Read more
Published on 6 Sep 2001 by cherry4412@aol.com
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