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Book Review: How to Be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway & GIVEAWAY

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How to Be an American Housewife is Margaret Dilloway’s debut novel and a good one at that! I always enjoy novels based on different cultures and places so this book intrigued me from the beginning. Set in Japan and the US, it takes us on a journey through the life of a Japanese woman coming to America as a housewife and the difficulties that presents for her. Not only that but this is a story of a mother and daughter who find their way to a better understanding of each other and the rebuilding of a relationship.

We meet Shoko who is a young Japanese woman in the beginning of the novel who ends up marrying an American GI, Charlie, in order to please her parents. Yet she’s doing it for herself as well because she wants to go to America and start a new life after suffering a heartbreak of her own in Japan. Shoko’s early life in the US is hard – she has a hard time making friends as people shun her and getting used to new ways and traditions is hard for her. Still she works hard to make a good home for Charlie and her children as a proper wife should.

Shoko, now in her older years is suffering from heart problems that may have been caused by radiation in the war. Her one dream of returning to Japan and mending the devastated relationship with her brother Taro is fast slipping away from her. This is one thing she feels she must do if she’s going to die so she asks her daughter Sue to go in her place.

Sue, at first isn’t receptive to the idea but her daughter Helena sure is and this ultimately sways her mother enough that she agrees to go. Sue and Helena arrive in Japan and meet several of their relatives but Taro is the one that Sue really must see and he is none to happy to see them at first. However Helena I think is really the one that wins him over and he begins to open up and the gulf that has existed in the family is finally closing in.

The first part of the novel is told in flashbacks through Shoko as she thinks back on her childhood and growing up, her relationship with her brother Taro, and what ultimately tears them apart. The second half is told through her daughter Sue as she struggles to find her place in life and finds that the the trip to Japan is just what she needed to open her eyes to new possibilities.

At the heart of this novel is the story of a mother and daughter who never quite were able to come together. Shoko, being from Japan, was a much different mother than Sue’s friends in America were and they both struggled. As well Shoko has always been outspoken and not at all patient and never really gave Sue a chance causing her to grow up feeling that she had been nothing but a disappointment to her mother. The trip to Japan changes everyone’s lives as long buried secrets are brought to light and the healing can begin.

I enjoyed How to Be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway. I’ve heard many compare it to The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan but since I’ve never read that one I can’t really say. For me it was a fresh, good story. It’s an easy read that I think would make a great summer read or a good one for a book club as I think most mother/daughter books generate much discussion. There’s even a Reading Group Guide provided on Margaret Dilloway’s website to help you along.

What made this book even better for me is that it was based on a lot of experiences from the author’s life. Her own mother was a Japanese war bride and ultimately passed away from the very same heart problem that Shoko suffered with. I think it must have been difficult or maybe healing to write a book such as this and think back on your own mother’s life.

I read How to Be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway for her book tour with TLC Book Tours. You can check here for other tour stops and see what everyone else thinks as well. You can pop in and check out Margaret Dilloway’s website for more info on the book. If you just can’t wait to read it you can buy it here in the US and here in Canada.

My thanks…to TLC Book Tours and the publisher for my review copy of How to Be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

I have 1 copy of How to Be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway to share with my readers. To enter…

  • For 1 entry leave me a comment with an email address to contact you.
  • For 2 entries blog or tweet this giveaway!

This giveaway is open to US & Canadian residents only (no PO boxes) and I’ll be drawing for the winner on Sunday, August 8, 2010. Good luck everyone!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Great review! This sounds right up my alley! I'll have to add this onto my wishlist! 🙂

  2. I would love to be entered in this giveaway!

    ~Briana
    thebookpixie[at]yahoo[dot]com

  8. What a nice review. I was actually thinking about the Joy Luck Club when I got to that comment!
    Thanks for the chance to win.
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  9. This sounds like a fascinating novel. Thanks for the giveaway.
    lcbrower40(at)gmail(dot)com

  10. First, LOVE the new look around here. It is so polished and wonderful.
    Second, you must read The Joy Luck Club.
    Third, I'd love to have this book! I started to enter a giveaway for it yesterday on another site and it had 100 entries!
    fourkidsrgreat(at)gmail.com

  11. Enter please 🙂 Sounds very interesting!!

    PelicanJL(at)hotmail(dot)com

  13. No need to enter me, as I'm on the tour, too. I love The Joy Luck Club, so now I'm really looking forward to reading this one.

  14. Great review. I love learning about other cultures and have read quite a few featuring cultures different from my own. I've yet to read one about the Japanese.

    I'd love to read this book. Please enter me. Thanks.

    mparke[at]mts[dot]net

  15. Hi Darlene… that's a great review… even I love books about different cultures and places..I think its lovely to be able to understand various cultures and their customs and its only by reading such novels that I have started realizing that there are quite a lot of similarities between cultures…. I am currently reading "Girl in Translation" and its really good so far… and I am looking forward to reading "How to be an American Housewife"…

    archanaskorner(at)gmail(dot)com

    Thanks
    Arch

  17. I really enjoy the storyline of this book. I have recently read Girl in Translation, Shanghai Girls and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and enjoyed them all.

    cenya2 at hotmail dot com

  19. no need to enter me, but I'll be reading and reviewing this one next month. Great review.

  20. I'm glad to here that you liked this one Dar. No need to enter me as I should have a copy coming from Librarything.

  22. This sounds like a great book, although the cover is much like the one for Girl in Translation! I would love a chance to win this book, so please do enter me in your giveaway! I also have been thinking of you and Buddy, and hope you are doing well.

  26. I've seen this one before and it looks great. Please enter me. And BTW I updated my Google Reader – thanks for the heads up that we needed to do it!
    theroundfile at live dot com

  28. This sounds like a book I would love – I love to read about other cultures and I love immigrant stories.

  29. Whoops! I forgot to leave my email address and I would like to be entered. milou2ster(at)gmail.com

  30. I read this book on vacation and loved it so much.. one of my favorites this year! Thanks for a great review and for being on the tour. We really appreciate it!

  31. Please enter my name in the giveaway for the book. Thanks!

    pboylecharley AT hotmail DOT com

  34. This sounds like a great book. Please enter me in the giveaway. Thanks

    forwhlz at gmail dot com

  40. This sounds great, thank you for sharing and for the giveaway 🙂

    estrella[dot]azul20[at]gmail[dot]com

  43. So far all of the review I've read of this one has been very positive. I'd love to read it!

    Thanks!

    j.t.oldfield[at]gmail.com

  45. I have totally enjoyed The Joy Luck Club. You have to read that one, Dar! I'd like to read this one too so I'll keep an eye on it and hope it appears at my bookstores soon. Thanks for the review!

  48. Thanks for the great review. I have heard good things everywhere about this one. I'm in. Thankls

    tekeygirl at gmail dot com

  49. Wonderful review. I am very interested in this book because my husband is Chinese and I am not. Still learning the culture.

    CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com

  50. Wonderful review. I am very interested in this book because my husband is Chinese and I am not. Still learning the culture.

    CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com

  51. A woman from Japan becomes an American Housewife sounds like a great read. Seeing movies that show Japan wives, Ive always thought they surcome to every need of the man. I love to see what happens when they are an American housewife.

    rbooth43 at yahoo dot com

  54. I would love to be entered in this giveaway. 😀

    Marie
    utah91960[at]yahoo[dot]com

  58. Hi. I have had a fascination for the Japanese culture for years. Although I haven't traveled to Japan yet it's in the works. The Anthropology course I took on Japanese Culture is my all time favorite and it's one reason I took the martial arts for many many years. Would absolutely love to read this book. Please put my name in the hat. Cheers.
    polo-puppy-fluffy[at]hotmail[dot]com

  63. I really liked your review! I enjoy stories about female relationships and about different cultures.
    Please enter me in your giveaway!

    Aimala127 AT gmail DOT com

  64. I don't have a witty comment to leave, but I would love to win a copy of this book.
    hawkes(at)citlink.net

  66. Definitely sounds like a book I would enjoy reading! Please include me in this giveaway. Thank you!

    terrymac1a at hotmail dot com