Trad Wife

Trad Wife

by Saratoga Schaefer

Blurb:

Every #tradwife needs a baby. She’ll get one at any cost.

When Camille Deming isn’t cooking, cleaning, or homesteading in her picture-perfect country farmhouse, she’s posting about her tradwife lifestyle for her online followers. She takes inspiration from other tradwives on social media, aspiring to be like them, but Camille’s missing a key component: a baby. And contrary to what she posts online, things with her husband Graham have been strained. Pressured by her eager followers, Camille fears that without a baby, her relationship will suffer and her social media will never grow out of its infancy.

When Camille discovers a mysterious, decrepit well in the wheatfield behind her house, she makes a wish for a baby. Afterwards, she has unsettling experiences that she convinces herself are angelic in nature, and when she’s visited one night by a strange creature, her wish comes true. 

Camille’s pregnancy announcement gets more engagement than anything she’s ever posted—so what if Graham’s reaction is lukewarm? Camille’s life is finally falling into place. Never mind that her pregnancy is developing freakishly rapidly and she’s suddenly craving raw meat. Being a traditional wife is worth it.

Rosemary’s Baby for the digital age, this disturbing horror novel is one you’ll want to devour in just one bite.

My Reaction:

I saw this recommended on YouTube, heard the comparison to Rosemary's Baby, and didn't really bother looking into it any further before starting. 

I have no desire to go through all the reasons this didn't hold a candle to Rosemary's Baby, but you can browse other negative reviews on Goodreads to get the gist, if you care. To put it briefly, it can't seem to decide what kind of book it wants to be—the body horror is just gross and often unnecessary (though I accept that some people enjoy body horror, so... whatever... but this is my review, and I don't like it at this level)—it's far too repetitive and dragged-out, which makes it boring at many times (and I don't think it was intentionally so)—the "message" is muddled and contradictory—the husband character is lacking any hint of subtlety, a caricaturized selfish "tradhusband"—the main-character wife supposedly has a bright, scientific mind, yet she somehow didn't know about male infertility and is stunningly slow on the up-take at times—and to top it all off, the course of the plot is completely predictable, once it gets rolling.  (Well, I guess I went into my reasons for disliking this, after all...)

If I had only seen the "acknowledgements" section before starting the book—or, heck, even the "they/them" pronouns for the author in the Goodreads bio (and the back of the book)—I may have understood that this wouldn't be a book for me.  To be fair, finding the term "pregnant people" (as opposed to, you know, "women", who are the only type of people who can get pregnant) was a pretty strong clue, earlier in the book. 

Here, let me just share the opening of the "Acknowledgements":  "The rise of tradwives is a symptom of society's larger, more persistent issues. Capitalism, racism, sexism, etc., have created a culture that can twist things as simple as aesthetics and farm living into something far more insidious.  Zen Buddhists say the only way out is through. I believe the only way out is to devour. Let's consume, transform, and in that way, resist."  

...Okay, then.  

I don't really know enough about it to have much of an opinion on the whole "tradwife" thing. If some women want to live a more traditional life, I don't see an issue with that, though for the ones obsessed with posting it all online, it does feel... performative, to put it mildly.  I doubt many women honestly consider themselves part of the movement (is it a movement?), and if anything, I suspect it's fading in popularity. Just another passing trend.  Some women will stick with the more traditional lifestyle, as some women always have. The ones who were in it for the clicks will drift back to something more mainstream (or chase whatever new fad catches their eye). The author obviously despises the tradwife lifestyle.  Alright, fair enough—but I'm not really clear on how she's linking it to capitalism and racism... Whatever.  I don't even care!

Bottom line: I just didn't enjoy it.