On the HahaFiction shelf

American Housewife

by Helen Ellis

Helen Ellis’s twelve stories follow women keeping house, hosting parties, joining book clubs and dealing with neighbors. A dispute over a shared hallway can become a feud; a tidy apartment and good manners offer little assurance that anyone is safe.

Contemporary & literary Dark comedy Dry wit Satire

From the publisher’s blurb

“Meet the women of American Housewife.”

Read the full description at Penguin Random House’s description

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What makes it funny?

Readers in book groups single out the catty email exchanges between apartment neighbors. Kirkus describes their progress from a courteous welcome to a hallway showdown. In the opening story, even preparing food gets aggressive, with ordinary kitchen tasks described as if the narrator were attacking dinner.

The comedy at work

Ellis lets women describe outlandish fears and hostile impulses as part of an ordinary day. The voices keep the practical concerns of housework and social life in view as their behavior gets stranger.

Try this if…

A collection for readers who like domestic satire with a mean streak, snarky correspondence and matter-of-fact accounts of alarming behavior.

Good to know

Some stories include killing and sinister domestic situations. Kirkus enjoyed the collection overall but found a few pieces less substantial than the rest.