Synopses & Reviews
Meet the women of American Housewife. They wear lipstick, pearls, and sunscreen, even when it’s cloudy. They casserole. They pinwheel. And then they kill a party crasher, carefully stepping around the body to pull cookies from the oven.
Taking us from a haunted pre-war Manhattan apartment building to the unique initiation ritual of a book club, these twelve delightfully demented stories are a refreshing and wicked answer to the question: "What do housewives do all day?"
Review
"Hilarious and moving, terrifying and shockingly strange, every page of American Housewife is driven by the fierce and fearless voice of Helen Ellis. Mixing together reality TV, book clubs, the Upper East Side and classic whodunits, these characters never forget to dab Chanel No. 5 behind their ears before murdering their neighbors." Hannah Tinti, author of The Good Thief
Review
"The funniest short story collection of [the year]....As effervescent and intoxicating as champagne punch." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Ellis has forged her own molten, mind-twisting storytelling mode. Her pacing is swift and eviscerating, and her characters’ rage and hunger for revenge are off the charts." Booklist (Starred Review)
Review
"Catchy, smart and very, very funny....The housewives in [American Housewife] share Ellis’s wry sensibility. But as comical as they are — and they are very — these women also have a sly depth." The Washington Post
Review
"Steeped in the Southern Gothic tradition. Flannery O’Connor would turn green with equal parts sick and envy.... Dark, deadpan and truly inventive." The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Satirical humor as twisted as screw-top bottles — and more effervescent than the stuff that pours out of them....Ellis is a master of the unhinged." Heller McAlpin, NPR
Review
"A raucous, whip-smart collection of stories featuring retro-feminist ladies who lunch." Elle
Review
"Surreal tales of American weirdness, with details that ring all too true." Margaret Atwood
Review
"Darkly comic stories about, and for, 'grown-ass' ladies." People
Synopsis
A NATIONAL BESTSELLER "Catchy, smart and very, very funny." --The Washington Post
Meet the women of American Housewife. They wear lipstick, pearls, and sunscreen, even when it's cloudy. They casserole. They pinwheel. And then they kill a party crasher, carefully stepping around the body to pull cookies from the oven.
Taking us from a haunted pre-war Manhattan apartment building to the unique initiation ritual of a book club, these twelve delightfully demented stories are a refreshing and wicked answer to the question: "What do housewives do all day?"
About the Author
Helen Ellis is the acclaimed author of Eating the Cheshire Cat. She is a poker player who competes on the national tournament circuit. Raised in Alabama, she lives with her husband in New York City.