Jan 28, 2015

Book Review: Hausfrau byJill Alexander Essbaum

Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum will be released March 17, 2015 by Random House. I consider it general or women's fiction and rated it 2.5/5.

I enjoyed reading the first half of this novel about Anna, the American homemaker married to a Swiss and living near Zurich, becoming a hausfrau or German housewife. I could sympathize with Anna at the beginning for feeling isolated in a country with a different language and customs and a husband who becomes mostly unfeeling, unaware.

In the second half of the book, Anna becomes less sympathetic, acting irrationally, spinning out of control in spite of going regularly to see a psychoanalyst. I didn't feel she was a tragic figure, though the author tried to make her one. She seemed just a confused and contradictory personality.

The ending was unsettling as I found it disappointing and the overall character development not quite believable.

I'd love to hear comments from others who have read the book.

I received a review galley of this book from the publisher. 

6 comments:

  1. Definitely want to try this one; such a pretty cover too. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Harvee

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  2. Disappointing! I was looking forward to this one!

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    Replies
    1. Hope you read it, Sarah, and let us know what you think.

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  3. Harvee,

    Thank you for sharing your honest thoughts about this book. The cover is lovely, but I am sorry that the contents were not better for you.

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  4. I have a copy of this book and was looking forward to it, but now I'm not so sure...

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    Replies
    1. Anna, hope you read it so we can compare notes.

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I appreciate your comments and thoughts...

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