I loved the book for the overall journey it took me on. If I was just here to enjoy the journey and the vibes, I probably would have raved about this book. But for the most part, it felt like
the author was unclear about the theme of the book for the majority of the novel. The overall tone and message of the book wasn’t clear until about 80% through…sometimes, this might be fine, but this felt very unclear for this particular subject. I wanted a clear opinion and declaration on gender roles and how marriages effectively work.
The miscommunication trope was incredibly infuriating, especially after the narration clearly states how important communication and clarity are in a marriage. The writing was bland and unexciting in the end considering the way the story was finished.

This had great potential but fell a little short and felt shallow. Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc

This was a charming historical fiction novel. Perhaps this was supposed to happen but I got major "Lessons in Chemistry" vibes from this book. I think I would be interested in checking out more books by Anita Abriel in the future.

I really enjoyed this book, the setting was immersive, great characters and a easy to follow storyline, I will find more books by this Author.

This skims over a lot of issues while telling the story of Maggie, a newlywed who is host a baking show, In the 1950s. Her husband Teddy has untreated mental health issues that challenge him as well as their marriage. Maggie has her own secrets. This could have been a more intense and thoughtful look at both of them and the changing tides of the period but it disappointed, especially with the ending. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A miss for me so over to others.

While enjoyed the setting and time period of thus book, I didn't necessarily context to or like the characters very much. The main characters seemed somewhat selfish and the decisions they made continually created conflict in their lives. I do feel it was worth reading for the historical context. Thanks#NetGalley #LakeUnionPublishing

Maggie Lane is a country girl living in New York City in the early 1950’s and she works on radio and is offered a new job promoting the Deluxe Baking Companies range of packet cake mixes and on The Maggie Lane Baking Television Show. Maggie has to act like the average American housewife, whip of yummy treats with everyone watching and sign a contract that will end her money worries and it has a morality code.

Maggie has just married Teddy Buckley, he thinks she should grab the opportunity and supports her and despite the fact she can’t cook or bake. Maggie’s show is a huge success, this causes tension at home and the couple have things they haven’t shared about their pasts and Maggie’s worried she will lose her job and husband if the truth comes out.

I received a copy of American Housewife from Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. The idea behind the story was to highlight the changes happening in America at the time, television was a new form of entertainment and advertising platform, anything that made life easier for a housewife was a great idea and would sell and women’s roles were changing.

From reading previous novels by Anita Abriel I had high hopes for American Housewife however it fell short of my expectations, the dialog didn’t flow smoothly, it jumped all over the place and I wasn’t a fan of Maggie’s character and the only positive thing she did was lookout and care for her friend Dolly.


I suggest to reading this book for yourself and making up your own mind and three stars from me.

Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

2.5⭐️. I would describe this as a version of Lessons in Chemistry but without the science, strong characters or driven plot. Or meaningful writing. So I guess just a baking show in the 50s with a few plot arcs, a few mysteries that get resolved unsatisfyingly and a social commentary on working women and how men were all unsupportive of them.

Things just ‘happened’ in the book. Maggie rose to fame instantly which I found hard to believe, Teddy is painted as an awful husband and Maggie is constantly gaslighted by his actions. Her past romances felt a touch unbelievable, her refusal to marry Jake was just a jarring experience. I mainly drew enjoyment from the setting (love 50s!) and I think is where the book was most interesting. Maggie held views that didn’t match up with the societal views from the get go, so you didn’t see much growth and she just got handed everything to her. She was also quite naive of things and I was frustrated by her lack of anger at the things that Teddy was doing. All the plot threads were repetitive, got resolved with ease and the ‘villain’ of the story was just such a caricature. There’s definitely quite a bit of editing that’s needed to at least add some substantial intrigue.

Maggie Lane navigates the heart ache of losing a past love and her new love in the current (book goes between past and present). I normally don’t like the back and forth of past and present, but it worked for this story. I also enjoyed the theme of womanhood as Maggie tries to have a good home life/work balance. This is something still relevant to woman today.

I wanted to love this book, but felt like it was repetitive at times. Still enjoyable and grateful to NetGalley for this Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Maggie Lane is the American Housewife. After working as a temp and doing commercials, Maggie is offered her own baking show on the new medium of television. It’s the early 1950s and her show is designed to showcase Deluxe Baking Company products and recipes. Maggie becomes enormously popular and is showered with recognition and awards while her husband Teddy, a radio producer, chafes at taking second place. Maggie is frustrated because, while she has a successful career, she can only give homemaking advice to stay-at-home housewives. Tensions rise and it will take a near disaster to save her relationship with Teddy.

You can’t help but love Maggie Lane. She’s intelligent, spirited and down to earth. She works hard for her success and if she keeps some secrets along the way, that’s her business. I love the letters she answers from fans. Her answers are real, encouraging and ahead of her time. The only problem I have with American Housewife is in the final pages. The networking goes beyond belief. However, it is a small flaw in an otherwise thoroughly enjoyable book! 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Anita Abriel for this ARC.

I really enjoyed Maggie’s story! This book provided a great look into being a woman in the 1950s. In a time when women were expected to only be housewives, she was a great champion to encourage women to follow their dreams and ambition.

The mystery of Maggie’s past and the unraveling of her seemingly perfect life kept me hooked throughout the novel. However, I would've liked the story to be longer. It wrapped up very quickly in the end. Overall, this was a great read!

Thank you, Netgalley, for the opportunity to read!

I cannot say enough good things about this book! The writing was simple enough to read, not too dense. And the story went together so so well! Highly recommend

If you love old Hollywood glamour mixed with a dose of behind-the-scenes drama, American Housewife is a must-read. Anita Abriel takes us back to the 1950s, where television is booming, and image is everything. Enter Maggie Lane—a rising TV star with a hit baking show, the perfect husband, and a spotless reputation. There’s just one small problem: she can’t bake to save her life, and her picture-perfect life is built on a carefully crafted illusion.

As Maggie navigates the pressures of fame, a controlling industry, and a marriage that’s not as happy as it seems, the tension simmers. Add in an old flame and secrets from her past, and suddenly, her carefully built world is teetering on the edge. The novel does a great job of exploring the unrealistic expectations placed on women in the 1950s—especially those in the public eye—while keeping the drama engaging and full of twists.

Abriel’s writing makes it easy to slip into this glamorous yet high-stakes world, and Maggie is a character you can’t help but root for. The mix of romance, scandal, and personal discovery keeps the pages turning, and while the story is set in the past, its themes of public versus private life feel just as relevant today.

If you’re in the mood for an entertaining, heartfelt, and insightful look at the cost of success and the pursuit of authenticity, American Housewife is worth a read. Perfect for fans of historical fiction with a touch of old-school Hollywood drama!

A big thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for na honest review.

It was 1950 in New York and Maggie Lane had just been given her own television show. The Maggie Lane Baking Show would be in the rooms of those who could afford a television set, while Maggie herself knew she'd have to "fake it till she made it". Maggie was newly married to Teddy, and he supported her in her endeavours while having his own career. Maggie was soon extremely popular, receiving mail from viewers on a constant basis. But things were shaky in the background, behind the scenes. Her best friend in the industry was popping pills; Teddy obviously had secrets from his years of reporting on the front lines, and Maggie herself hadn't told anyone of her own past. What would happen when the cracks began to show?

American Housewife by Aussie author Anita Abriel was unfortunately very bland with the story all over the place. I have always really enjoyed Anita Abriel's writing but this one was not up to her usual standard. There were many unlikeable characters and hardly any at all to like. I'll still check out the author's next though...

With thanks to NetGalley & Lake Union Publishing for my digital ARC to read and review.

This book was extremely hard to finish as it was so poorly written. I couldn’t bring myself to care about the characters and just kept waiting for the last page

This is a historical fiction book set in the early 1950s and features Maggie who voices a radio program with Deluxe Baking Company reading off recipes for housewives to bake for dinner. Her show is so popular they end up offering her an afternoon television spot, but Maggie has never baked a day in her life. So, she quickly gets married to her boyfriend Teddy who helps her learn to bake so she can be successful on the TV program. She becomes wildly popular and the darling of the CBS world. She doles out marriage advice as well as baking advice. However, the problem is her husband now makes much less money than her, so he starts racking up large purchases at restaurants and stores using her money. At first, I thought this was going to be a slapstick about her trying to figure out how to bake in the kitchen on live TV, but it ended up being a very serious book. It talked about the income gap between couples, it talked about the prevalence of anti-semitism after the war, and it talked about substance abuse using pills to become the ideal weight. It also talked about how secrets from the war were kept and how it affects a marriage. I really enjoyed this book because it did dive deeper than I expected it to. Thanks NetGalley and lake union press!

Maggie Lane has been a radio actress when she is tapped to host a cooking show. It is 1950's New York, so the studio wants her to be married and portray the perfect housewife. She hesitantly marries her fiancé, Teddy, and sets off to be the best baking tv personality. Fame, her relationship with Teddy, and her secret past become issues as Maggie tries to navigate her new job and lifestyle.

I worried that this would be too much like Lessons in Chemistry (which I loved), but the cooking show job is really where the similarities end. Maggie, Teddy, and the supporting characters are very different and the New York in the 50's setting is very distinct. I really liked a lot of this book (even if it's fairly predictable). I liked that it took on different levels of fame between partners, pay disparity, a women's role in society, and anti-Semitism; all with a light hand. This was an easy and enjoyable women's fiction book with well written characters. This would be good for fans of Sara Goodwin Confino or Kristy Woodson Harvey. Also, I love the beautiful cover.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. Set in the 1950's it may fall under the historical fiction genre for many - and to be honest that is a genre I do not tend to be drawn to at all. With that being said I do love anything 1950's be it the fashion or the way of life back then so I was drawn to this book on the cover art alone. This book was such a fun and engaging read for me. We have a 1950's radio star, Maggie, who gets a big break with a baking show on the television. This book reeled me in from the moment we learn that Maggie has never actually baked much of anything in real life before and there are cracks in her "perfect marriage" that she needs to keep out of the limelight or they may ruin her one chance at TV fame. We follow the rise of Maggie's career in a time when women didn't usually have careers nor were they the "stars" of the family and her life with her less than supportive husband. This was such a well written read, I felt transported back to the 1950's whilst reading it. The descriptions were immersive and Maggie as a character along with her life struggles were a captivating read for me. #anitaabriel #americanhousewife #netgalley #goodreads #getlitsy #tea_sipping_bookworm #thestorygraph #bookqueen #bookstagram #lakeunionpublishing

I chose to read this book because of the time period and the New York setting. I love the 1950s-60s era. I thought the premise was interesting. But………

It was easy to get into the story. But, it quickly fell flat. The writing was very basic, the characters seemed shallow, the plot seemed like an outline of a future book……everything was skimmed over. Few details were given. The main character (Maggie) went from a stand-in for radio commercials to a hugely successful television host of a cooking show featuring boxed cake mixes. It seemed like in happened in one chapter. I found it unbelievable that this level of success could be achieved from a cooking show using cake mixes.

The book did touch on a few serious points: body image, eating disorders, anti-semitism, PTSD, drugs. But, again, all these topics (except PTSD) seemed like they were only mentioned in passing.

Redeeming features:
1. I enjoyed the description of the clothing styles of the era.
2. I enjoyed the fact female was portrayed as a successful tv host. It was far from the norm in the early 1950s.
3. Part of Maggie's TV hostess job was to answer write-in questions from the TV audience. For the most part, her answers were thought out very well and positive.
4. Maggie went to a Gala wearing L'Air du Temps perfume. It was my late mother's favourite fragrance. (The fragrance has been reformulated over the years and is not the same as it was.)

While this was not a perfect fit for me, it is a quick and entertaining read. I think it would have been a perfect beach or airplane read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy American Housewife follows Maggie Lane, a newly married TV star. Maggie Lane is going to host a baking show, but she doesn’t know how the bake. Maggie must navigate this challenge along with others that come along. Unfortunately I was unable to finish the story. The storyline was disjointed and hard to follow. I was hoping that it would be similar to Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, but my expectations were too high.