How To Be An American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway - Blog Tour

How To Be An American Housewife
Margaret Dilloway
Putnam/Penguin
274 pgs and Author Notes

Shuko grew up believing that her beauty would get her almost anything.  It led her to a man she truly loved but that love was forbidden and so she promised never to see him again.  Out of duty, she married Charles. Shoku knew this marriage would save her from a life of being second in status and provide her with the security she craved.  One thing she hadn't expected was her brother Taro's reaction to the marriage and, a lifetime later, she wants to reconnect with him and set things right.  Her health prevents her from going so she sends her daughter, Sue.

Sue's life isn't what she expected adn she's now a single mom in a dead-end job.  She sees the opportunity to go to Japan as one that might, finally, set things right between her mom and herself.  Maybe she can please her mom and that will lead to changes in her own life. 

How to be An American Housewife has so much potential.  We get a small glimpse into Shoku's life, then and now, but we don't really get to know her.  She seems whiny and needy and bossy and I kept hoping for some redemption, but didn't get any.  When Sue travels to Japan to find the family she's never known, it's all too easy.  There's lots of acceptance and forgiveness but no atonements.  It happens quickly and with very little fanfare or having to win anyone over.  A better choice would be Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford.

About the Author

Margaret Dilloway was inspired by her Japanese mother’s experiences when she wrote this novel, and especially by a book her father had given to her mother called The American Way of Housekeeping. She lives in Hawaii with her husband and three young children.

How to Be an American Housewife is her first novel.

Visit Margaret’s blog, American Housewife, HERE.

TLC Tour Stops
Monday, August 2nd: Savvy Verse and Wit

Tuesday, August 3rd: Redlady’s Reading Room

Wednesday, August 4th: The Brain Lair

Thursday, August 5th: Crazy About Books

This ARC was provided by TLC Book Tours and Putnam.  Thank you!