A review by cassiecat
The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

🎧3.75⭐️

A modern classic retro psychological suspense narrated by January LaVoy, a favourite narrator for me, she does a great job with the narration. 

The book cover is effective portraying a faceless generic woman. 

I hadn’t read the book, I think the old film might be floating around somewhere in my head with no clear memories so as it was a fav narrator I opted to give it a go. It’s very compact,it feels more like a novella, I don’t know if this was a popular book length of the time. 

Although published in 1972, it feels like a throwback to the 1950’s/ 60’s with the stereotypical woman busy looking after the home and children with an emphasis on looking good for when her husband gets home. Joanna is a modern woman. Behind the idyllic facade there lies a terrible secret. 

Joanna, Walter and their 2.2 children consider themselves lucky to have moved to idyllic Stepford, until Joanna’s suspicions are roused. 

It’s interesting to see that the book stands the test of time against modern psychological suspense, with the slow dawning of a big problem, isolation of the main character with being gaslit, tension due to impending doom, it even manages a decent creepy vibe, exiting with an open ending leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions. Ok it lacks the massive twists associated with modern equivalents. For me an easy listen, however it’s examined in more literary detail by Peter Straub in an afterword.