Recipe for a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown

Alice and her husband have finally bought a home in the suburbs. For her husband, it means the first step in starting their family. For Alice, it means a complete change in lifestyle and career. She says she's working on a novel, but her writing is slow to nonexistent. Until, that is, she finds some old magazines and cookbooks belonging to their new house's previous owner. Now she finally has the inspiration she needs to get started. 

Nellie Murdoch's life as a new wife isn't at all what she expected. When they were dating, Richard swept her off her feet. But now that they're husband and wife, Richard's true nature is revealed. Between neighborhood parties and hosting dinners with her husband's boss, Nellie finds it harder and harder to hide what's happening behind closed doors. 

I could not wait to get my hands on a copy of Karma Brown's latest. And three quarters of the book delivered in every way.

Alice and her husband have been living in a cramped apartment in New York City. The house that they buy in the suburbs is within their budget, thankfully, but in need of a lot of work. Not only has the house apparently not been updated for decades, the once well-tended garden has gone wild, and the previous owner's appliances, furniture, and belongings are still in the house.

Alice has been working for a high end (and high stress) PR company. Oh, and she hasn't been completely honest with her husband about exactly why she left the job. That's seeded throughout the story and contributes to her discomfort in her new position, basically as a housewife. But not exactly, she is supposed to be writing a book. She has a lot of time on her hands and absolutely no experience with that. Which is why she decides to start cooking from Nellie's old books. And also to look into Nellie's own story as inspiration for her book.

Chapters alternate between Alice and Nellie, but I admit that I preferred Nellie's chapters. I liked her as a character more than Alice. As a whole, though, I thought the book was good. Unfortunately the end felt incredibly rushed. And by that time I really, really didn't like Alice's story.

Overall I enjoyed the book, but I do wish that the author had taken a bit more time with the ending. Neither Alice's thread or Nellie's ended very satisfactorily. Nellie's in particular was lacking in detail, as though Brown simply dropped her altogether to focus on Alice. And Alice...well, I'll let you see for yourselves.