Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum is an intense book to the say the least. Do you ever read a book where the main character is someone you really dislike but still you are unable to tear yourself away? That is Hausfrau for me. I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by Mozhan Marno and she does an amazing job of portraying the main character of Anna in this story. To say the least I found myself addicted to listening to this story about a woman who is nothing but self-involved. And this is where the author’s superb writing skills come into the picture because she draws you into Anna’s life so fully that you find yourself needing to know more about this woman and why she acts out as she does and you can’t walk away until you do.
Anna describes herself as ‘a good wife, mostly’. She is a bored housewife who is very unhappy. She’s thirty-seven and living near Zurich with her husband Bruno and their three children. Anna is originally American and struggling with the language and ways in this new land. She’s seeing a therapist for her depression and taking a German language class. While this may all seem fairly normal, it isn’t. The way Anna chooses to deal with her issues is by having extramarital affairs and it seems the more risky they are the more excitement she feels. Yet even all of her affairs don’t seem to be making her happy and then one fateful day while she’s enjoying an afternoon of sexual bliss the unimaginable happens and Anna’s life spirals out of control.
Of course I didn’t like Anna. I thought her to be so selfishly involved in herself. She spent her time having affairs instead of with her children. She really has no ambition to be anything and that includes being a mother; she seems to have no friends or interests either. There just wasn’t anything to like about her and yet I can’t explain why I felt the need to continue listening to see what would become of this woman. I wonder if it was because I am so different from her that I was so fascinated by her need to systematically destroy her own life. I’m not sure but I do know that despite the seemingly dark tone of this book I really did like it and for me it was one of those compulsive type reads. It was like a train wreck that I couldn’t pull my eyes from.
I would recommend Hausfrau to those who enjoy literary fiction but be forewarned that there is quite a lot of raw sexuality in this book so if that isn’t something you can handle don’t pick this one up. It is however a novel that is still sticking in my mind. I listened to it a while back but could easily discuss it in an instant. Once again I have to mention that the audiobook is really well done. I think the subject matter of this book was all the more powerful in audio.
Buy: Audible
I grabbed this one from netgalley but it seems to be getting mixed reviews (maybe because of the sexuality?) so I haven’t picked it up. It sounds like I should give it a try.
I just got this one from the library. No one who has read this book has liked Anna and I am okay with that. We’ll see what I think once I’ve read it.
I seem to be enjoying books with characters that I just don’t really like lately, so I’ll have to give this a try.
I feel the same way when I watch tv shows like Desperate Housewives! Their lives are so different from mine but I just can’t look away, mostly BECAUSE their lives are so different than mine and I want to see how the train wreck ends :). Thanks for the recommendation!
Interesting perspective. I also reviewed “Hausfrau” courtesy of Netgalley. I have to say I loved reading it because Jill Alexander Essbaum’s prose are absolutely brilliant. She’s a poet and “Hausfrau” is his first novel. You can tell by the care she puts into every sentence. It’s amazing it was #16 on the NYT Bestseller list the first week it was released; too bad it hasn’t been back.
I love Peeking in “PeeKing between the Pages”
“Thoughts on This ‘n That”
I’ve read that audio is the way to go for this book.
Thank you for your honest review of this audiobook, Darlene. It sounds like you enjoyed this book although you disliked Anna. I can understand that.
I started this is print and just couldn’t get into it. Plan to give it another try, but maybe that should be on audio…
On your question of an unlikeable main character, yes! I read Adultery by Cohelo not too long ago and this book is reminding me of that one. I have a copy of Hausfrau on my shelves, I’m curious to read it. I described Adultery as being a train wreck too…lol. It’s like these types of characters are impossible to not continue to read about, they are so impulsive and just self destructive.
Great review.
Glad to see that there’s a reason to read this book other than just for the beautiful cover!