The Mad Wife [Large Print]

By Meagan Church

Book Overview

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From bestselling author Meagan Church comes a haunting exploration of identity, motherhood, and the suffocating grip of societal expectations that will leave you questioning the lives we build--and the lies we live.

They called it hysteria. She called it survival.

Lulu Mayfield has spent the last five years molding herself into the perfect 1950s housewife. Despite the tragic memories that haunt her and the weight of exhausting expectations, she keeps her husband happy, her household running, and her gelatin salads the talk of the neighborhood. But after she gives birth to her second child, Lulu's carefully crafted life begins to unravel.

When a new neighbor, Bitsy, moves in, Lulu suspects that something darker lurks behind the woman's constant smile. As her fixation on Bitsy deepens, Lulu is drawn into a web of unsettling truths that threaten to expose the cracks in her own life. The more she uncovers about Bitsy, the more she questions everything she thought she knew--and soon, others begin questioning her sanity. But is Lulu truly losing her mind? Or is she on the verge of discovering a reality too terrifying to accept?

In the vein of The Bell Jar and The Hours, The Mad Wife weaves domestic drama with psychological suspense, so poignant and immersive, you won't want to put it down.

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• Format: Hardcover
• Large Print: Yes
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1420534556
• ISBN13: 9781420534559
• Release Date: May 2026
• Publisher: Thorndike Press Large Print
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.7" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

We choose thi book for our book club

Loved this book so much, the twist was awesome.

Finished in a day!

The frustration I felt on behalf of 1950s housewives, and how the misogyny of this time bleeds into family/political dynamics today, was jarring and brought me to tears.

A Story Within a Story

A great story with layered messages, both dark and hopeful. Selected it because it was a “thriller,” but it is more than that. Would have given it a full five stars except for a few story gaps that I felt weren’t explained. A book well worth reading!

Good read

The mad wife it's a good book, I don't want to give out spoilers but it's also informative.

4 stars

THE MAD WIFE by Meagan Church A domestic psychological drama that made me thankful I wasn’t around in the 1950s (the misogyny — ugh!). Luna “Lulu” Mayfield is the quintessential housewife. She lives in a cookie cutter suburban neighborhood in North Carolina with her husband and son. Lulu tries to be the perfect wife, the perfect mother, a perfect friend, and maintain a perfect household. Everything appears to be perfectly fine and normal, but Lulu is living in a trad wife hellscape. While this was a slow burn, the uneasy, suffocating, and foreboding atmosphere made up for it. I appreciate how Lulu’s postpartum depression was written in an accurate and compassionate way. As a mom I empathized with Lulu and related somewhat with her struggles. In short this is a timely story. It shows how far we’ve come since the 50s, yet highlights how we *still* have so much more work to do. Highly recommend. Rating: 4/5 ⭐️