Hausfrau
Ratings13
Average rating3.2
Anna Benz, an American woman in her thirties, lives in comfort and affluence with her Swiss banker husband and their three young children in a picture-perfect suburb of Zurich. Despite the tranquility and order of her domestic existence, Anna is falling apart. In an effort to restart her life, she turns to Jungian analysis, German language classes, and a series of extramarital affair, whose consequences she cannot foretell.
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Oh, Anna. This book gave me a lot to think about. The way Anna comes to terms with how she views the world, her self-imposed isolation and the way she deteriorates after tragedy resonated with me. Although Anna is by no means a hero, she's relatable and human. I appreciated that she was finally able to determine her own fate and face the truth of her life.
Anna is an American living in Switzerland with her Swiss husband, Bruno, and their children. She's clearly depressed and lonely, still feeling isolated by a language barrier after all these years. She has no girlfriends and her husband is emotionally unavailable. So Anna starts having affairs. It starts with one, but she quickly loses control and can't keep up with her own lies. Things just spiral. (It was only a kiss, how did it end up like this? It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss!)
So ngl, I picked up this book because the cover is beautiful. I didn't really care what it was about; it was a novel, and the cover was gorgeous. Having no expectations, I can't say I was disappointed. But I didn't love it. Anna's depression and total apathy to anyone but her own self is palpable and difficult to read at times. She's not an easily likable protagonist even if she's somewhat understandable at times. Trying to sort through her deception and lies and affairs is frustrating. She's going to therapy but lying to her therapist. She refuses to try to make friends. It's just frustrating.
One thing I was really impressed by was how the timeline could change in almost every paragraph and, without any explanation, we knew exactly what was going on. From a therapy appointment, to what Anna was currently doing, to a few years prior. The timeline skipped around A LOT, but it was never confusing. And that's not easy to do. So props to the author for that. All in all, though, I wouldn't read it again and it was pretty forgettable, hence the three star review.
Would I recommend?
I'd say pass on this one, unless you have a very specific set of things you want in a book and this fits it perfectly.
what a tormented woman this protagonist is. I felt compelled to read until the brutal end. I liked her unemotional narration. Talk about a woman desperately in need of help.
