I recently finished reading Recipe for a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown. This book has been on my wish list for a while but I rarely purchase a book that costs more than $5 because I read so many books that at $10 to $15 per Kindle book I could spent WAY too much on books and not have any money left to buy other things like food. Anyway, when the book popped up on sale for $1.99 I immediately clicked Buy Now. I was not disappointed.
Recipe for a Perfect Wife is about two women and their marriages. Alice and her husband buy a house in the suburbs and relocate from New York City. She finds a box of magazines and a cookbook owned by the previous owner, Nellie, who moved into the house as a new bride in the 1950’s and lived there until her death. Alice also comes across some letter Nellie has written to her mother but never mailed.
Suffice it to say that neither woman’s “recipe” is perfect or even one I recommend. However, the book does highlight, in a subtle way, how much marriage and women’s place in society has changed since the 1950’s. Interspersed throughout the book are recipes from Nellie’s cookbook that are actually part of the story.
The part of the book that fascinated me the most was the quotes Brown uses at the beginning of each chapter. Each quote is from an advice book aimed at women/wives in the past. Some of this advice is always relevant, even if it is trite. For example,
“Your mind can accomplish things while your hands are busy. Do head work while dusting, sweeping, washing dishes, paring potatoes, etc. Plan family recreation, the garden, etc.”
-Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book, revised and enlarged (1956)
Okay, so that quote trivializes and highlights the limits the role of women, but, I’m sure I’m not the only person who thinks about other stuff and makes plans while doing mindless tasks. That part of this advice is relevant, while trite. Other quotes, however, make me angry for the women of the past who were fed such nonsense. This quote, for example.
“But in case of an occasional lapse on the part of the husband-there a bit of advice may prove acceptable. And my advice would be: forgive and forget. Or still better – make believe you know nothing. An occasional lapse from the straight path does not mean that he has ceased to love you. He may love you as much; he may love you a good deal more.”
-William J. Robinson
Married Life and Happiness (1922)
I really enjoyed reading Recipe for a Perfect Wife and recommend it. In addition to being a good, entertaining read it gave me a new interest in finding out more about the advice women were given in the past and how that advice shaped not only their choices and lives, but ours.
Click on the picture of the book to go to Amazon.
