The Stepford Wives [Paperback]

The story is very simple but gripping and well written. Joanna Eberhart moves to the seemingly bucolic town of Stepford with her husband, Walter, and two children, leaving behind the dangers of big city living. An independent, assertive, intelligent, and creative woman, Joanna epitomizes the newly liberated women of the nineteen seventies. Looking for like souls with whom to become friends, she seeks out some of the other married women of the town, only to find that they are all uniformly addicted to housework, give their husbands complete obeisance, are made up to the gills, and have figures courtesy of maidenform.

Joanna manages to find several like minded women such as herself. Yet, when they, too, become addicted to housework after having a romantic weekend alone with their respective husbands, Joanna becomes convinced that the town's Men's Association has hatched a sinister plot to change all the wives of Stepford into submissive Barbie dolls. Will Joanna manage to escape the fate of the rest of the Stepford wives? Read the book and find out. You will not be disappointed.

The story begins with Joanna, Walter and their two kids adjusting to their new life in Stepford, which proves not to be an easy task, especially for Joanna. Starting with her neighbor, she starts seeing a disturbing pattern of behavior in the wives of Stepford. For example, Carol cannot come over for coffee because she needs to wax the floors...at night! Meanwhile, Carol's husband is out, having fun in the Men's Association. This is the other big thorn in Joanna's side, since she finds out that there are no associations of women in the community, and being a participant in the pro Women's Liberation movement, this is particularly bothersome.

But Joanna's search for "normal" women yields some results, and she meets Bobbie Markowe, another newcomer in Stepford who is as desperate as Joanna for finding somebody to talk to. They start to shake things up right away, but without getting very far due to the disinterest of the rest of the women. That is were the suspicions that something is not right start to build up in the two friends, and the novel gains speed and becomes the ride of a life time.

In my mind, this work can be interpreted in different ways, and I find that for me it is a psychological thriller in a fantastic setting, which on top of that builds a critique of society regarding how people strive for perfection and the effects this has on our everyday lives. I believe this is what made the book so enjoyable for me all those years ago, and why I found it even better in my adulthood, since now I can see some of the finer points I missed when I was a teenager.

The fact that the author writes a story that develops incredibly fast, without giving us respite, allows him to lead us better through this thought-provoking story. I bet that most people will find themselves reading this book in one, maybe two, sittings. For those that have watched the 2004 movie and have never read the book, I urge you to give this work a try and really find out what this story is about. Believe me the experience will be much better that the one you had with the film, and you will not be disappointed.

The story is very simple but gripping and well written in clear, straightforward prose. Joanna Eberhart moves to the seemingly bucolic town of Stepford with her husband, Walter, and two children, leaving behind the dangers of big city living. An independent, assertive, intelligent, and creative woman, Joanna epitomizes the newly liberated women of the nineteen seventies. Looking for like souls with whom to become friends, she seeks out some of the other married women of the town, only to find that they are all uniformly addicted to housework, give their husbands complete obeisance, are made up to the gills, and have figures courtesy of maidenform.

Joanna manages to find several like-minded women such as her. Yet, when they, too, become addicted to housework after having a romantic weekend alone with their respective husbands, Joanna becomes convinced that the town's Men's Association has hatched a nefarious plot to change all the wives of Stepford into submissive Barbie dolls. Will Joanna manage to escape the fate of the rest of the Stepford wives? Read the book and find out. You will not be disappointed.