Book reviews from the staff at the Ferguson Public Library! Check out what we're reading and what we think about it below.
After reading about wolves, Moka the dog decides he would like to be a wolf. He was very bored with his life, so one day he runs away. At first he feels very free. But what will happen when he gets hungry and night falls? This is a very charming book about freedom and finally appreciating the comforts of home.
-Julie B.
What a year for #TradWifeHorror! Sarah Langan's Trad Wife is the latest in a series of horror novels tackling the glossy, conservative influencer/lifestyle trend. I wondered if by October I would feel fatigued by the theme, but boy am I glad I gave this one a shot, because this is by far the best take on the theme that I've read this year.
I haven't read Sarah Langan before, but this book was blurbed by Paul Tremblay, Grady Hendrix, Mariana Enriquez, and Sarah Pinborough, all authors I admire. Also, Alma Katsu was a first reader for this book, and her novel The Hunger is excellent historical horror (a supernatural twist on The Donner Party).
Trad Wife opens with an ambiguously ominous scene set in 2020 before introducing us to our main character, a New York journalist. Jenny Kaplan goes viral for a personal essay and then just as swiftly is cancelled for the same revelations that made her famous. A chance to get her career back on its feet comes when a beautiful, charming influencer spreading the gospel of "traditional family values" from her Pennsylvania farm invites her to write a feature.
And here, Langan gives us a nuanced portrayal of the appeal of influencers and trad wifes. From the perspective of Jenny's sister, Melissa, a lonely Jersey housewife; two women sinking into debt after falling for the pernicious allure of Mia's pyramid scheme; and even Jenny herself, we can empathize with the comfort that comes from being seen, even if it is parasocial and illusory.
Because so many people are lonely. In her own career, Jenny has learned the grim necessity of self-reliance. "There are no guardrails. There is only you." However, life has taught her the value of helping other women: "There's a rule, an unspoken code: At parties and bars, at backyard barbecues and bathrooms at long-haul rest stops, when a woman asks another woman for help, she has to give it." From a combination of these beliefs, she agrees to stay at Black Swan Farm for a week. She feels compelled to stay with Mia out of a sense that she may need outside assistance.
That same sense of being "seen" that was so comforting takes on a predatory feel as Jenny's stay at Black Swan Farm lengthens. She has increasingly disturbing dreams, she starts losing her hair, and are there words in the yellow wallpaper?? As she observes more concering details about Mia's life, she also grapples with her own life choices and relationships with people.
This is such an original story, but references horror classics like The Yellow Wallpaper; The King in Yellow; and the OG Trad Wives, The Stepford Wives. I loved this book. Highly recommend.
-Michael G.
-Julie B.
-Julie B.
