RECIPE FOR A PERFECT WIFE by Karma Brown

This is my fourth novel I've read by Ms. Brown.
Goodreads Says: In this captivating dual narrative novel, a modern-day woman finds inspiration in hidden notes left by her home’s previous owner, a quintessential 1950s housewife. As she discovers remarkable parallels between this woman’s life and her own, it causes her to question the foundation of her own relationship with her husband–and what it means to be a wife fighting for her place in a patriarchal society.

When Alice Hale leaves a career in publicity to become a writer and follows her husband to the New York suburbs, she is unaccustomed to filling her days alone in a big, empty house. But when she finds a vintage cookbook buried in a box in the old home’s basement, she becomes captivated by the cookbook’s previous owner–1950s housewife Nellie Murdoch. As Alice cooks her way through the past, she realizes that within the cookbook’s pages Nellie left clues about her life–including a mysterious series of unsent letters penned to her mother.

Soon Alice learns that while baked Alaska and meatloaf five ways may seem harmless, Nellie’s secrets may have been anything but. When Alice uncovers a more sinister–even dangerous–side to Nellie’s marriage, and has become increasingly dissatisfied with the mounting pressures in her own relationship, she begins to take control of her life and protect herself with a few secrets of her own.

Alice comes upon a box of old magazines, Nellie’s family cookbook and is later gifted a pile of letters from Nellie to her mother that the neighbor has saved for ages, she begins channeling her own inner domestic goddess and finds inspiration for her potential book. But the more she reads, the more she uncovers . . . . .
As Melissa says: This story speaks volumes about women's roles in marriage both in the past and present. It is a great story that will have readers captivated throughout.

 Recipe for a Perfect Wife was a winner for me, a nostalgic trip back in time with the letters taking us back to the 1950’s and influencing Alice’s present-day life, a most wonderful and enjoyable read for me.