American Housewife by Helen Ellis is a collection of short stories.  Humorous, raunchy, caustic, and over-the-top, Ellis’ characters are vengeful, resentful and bold.  No shrinking violets here, Ellis’ women enjoy the shocking effect they convey on people.  In one story, a woman who recently moved into a new apartment does battle via e-mail with an established tenant across the hall over how to decorate the common area they share.  A surprise, twist-ending reaches a violent end as do other Ellis stories in the collection.  A story describing a group of book club women, results in learning hidden secrets of the members that are unexpected and beyond rule-breaking. Several stories are less than 4 pages.  With a ‘Mad Men’ aura, some of Ellis’ stories reveal women who appear submissive, but then make a move that unleashes their independence.

This entry was posted on January 24, 2016 at 3:25 pm and is filed under Adult Readers Advisory. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.