The Stepford Wives [Mass Market Paperback]

Ira Levin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 2004

All the beautiful people live in the idyllic village of Stepford, Connecticut, an affluent suburban Eden populated with successful, satisfied hubbys and their beautiful, dutiful wives. For Joanna Eberhart, a recent arrival with her husband and two children, it all seems too perfect to be true -- from the sweet, accommodating Welcome Wagon lady to all those cheerful, friendly faces in the supermarket checkout lines. But just beneath the town's flawless surface, something is sordid and wrong -- something abominable with roots in the local Men's Association. And it may already be too late for Joanna to save herself from being devoured by Stepford's hideous perfection.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Levin was a hot commodity in the 1960s and 1970s, cranking out horror potboilers like Rosemary's Baby, The Boys from Brazil, and this 1972 title, all of which share the common theme that people aren't always who or what they seem. This slim volume finds protagonist Joanna and husband Walter and kids leaving the wicked city for the bucolic town of Stepford. Despite its ideal facade, the sleepy little storybook town actually is more wicked. Joanna soon notices that her female neighbors are all body and no brains and seemingly exist only to do housework while their husbands gather nightly at a mysterious men's club. Even worse, it appears that the women who moved there just before her suddenly begin morphing into hausfraus built like swimsuit models-and she's next! It's hard to tell if this is a stab at the feminist movement or simply a male fantasy, but it's a fun read and will keep you turning the pages. Note also that a new feature film based on this story is in the works.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

“Chilling...Entertaining...Read it.” (Austin American-Statesman )

“An efficient German motorcar of a book--masterful, ridiculously well crafted, and, like the ladies of Stepford themselves, flawless.” (Esquire )

“[Ira Levin] is the Swiss watchmaker of the suspense novel.” (Stephen King )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch (May 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060738197
• ISBN-13: 978-0060738198
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (106 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #557,885 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Short But Potent, May 31, 2000

By 

Eric J. Pray - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stepford Wives -Op/67 (Mass Market Paperback)

Like many of you that have already read this book and like the many of you who right now are searching high and low for a copy will eventually need to do, I scoured the countryside(alright, just library shelves)before I found this modern classic. "The Stepford Wives," short though it may be, is still one of my favorite books. It's a genuinely creepy story written with a feminist touch that you can't help but appreciate. It deals with a young couple who move to the small town of Stepford and hope to become part of its social scene. But when the protagonist's husband suddenly becomes involved with an exclusive and secretive men's club who seek to control their wives in a fashion more sinister than any reader could anticipate, she begins to fear for their safety. Through time, the term "Stepford Wife" has become a pop culture reference, and deservedly so. I'll let you have the satisfaction of finding out why.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE WIFE MANY MEN SECRETLY DESIRE..., June 5, 2004

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Stepford Wives (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a thought provoking, tautly written novella. A gem of suspense, it was first published in the early nineteen seventies and went on to become a popular movie of the same name, starring Katherine Ross. There is now a remake of the film version, starring Nicole Kidman in the lead role with Bette Midler in a supporting role and Christopher Walken as head of the sinister Men's Association described in the book. So, interest is now renewed in this very readable book, which, despite its simplicity and brevity, is a thinly disguised social commentary on the reaction of men to the early women's liberation movement.

The story is very simple but gripping and well written in clear, straightforward prose. Joanna Eberhart moves to the seemingly bucolic town of Stepford with her husband, Walter, and two children, leaving behind the dangers of big city living. An independent, assertive, intelligent, and creative woman, Joanna epitomizes the newly liberated women of the nineteen seventies. Looking for like souls with whom to become friends, she seeks out some of the other married women of the town, only to find that they are all uniformly addicted to housework, give their husbands complete obeisance, are made up to the gills, and have figures courtesy of maidenform.

Joanna manages to find several like-minded women such as her. Yet, when they, too, become addicted to housework after having a romantic weekend alone with their respective husbands, Joanna becomes convinced that the town's Men's Association has hatched a nefarious plot to change all the wives of Stepford into submissive Barbie dolls. Will Joanna manage to escape the fate of the rest of the Stepford wives? Read the book and find out. You will not be disappointed.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Suprised!, June 1, 2004

By 

Robert Wesley Sager "Student" (South Charleston, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Stepford Wives (Mass Market Paperback)

I have to say that I judged this book by its cover, I was at a bookstore and the cover with the lovely Nicole Kidman caught my eye in a nice in store display for the book. At first I though, oh don't buy it, you'll never read it. Well I found a nice little place to sit and read the first page or so and thought that just maybe I might. Well as soon as I got home I dove right in to this little jem and before I knew it I was on chapter two (chapter 1 is around 90-100 pages). Don't worry, there are a lot of breaks like those three little stars and gaps between paragraphs that provide a good stopping place if you need it.

The plot is simple Joanna Eberhart and her husband Walter move from the city (New York is implied) to the town of Stepford, Connecticut, a seemingly utopia. However Joanna becomes restless, the only club in town is a mens only club and all the housewives seem to only want to work around the house. She soon meets a woman named Bobbie Markowe who becomes very close to Joanna and a while later they both meet Charmaine Wimperis a woman who love to play tennis. They meet often and talk about the other wives of Stepford and how 'perfect' they are. Then Charmaine and her husband have a second honeymoon one weekend and when Charmaine returns she has shockingly become like the other Stepford wives, she even turns her beloved tennis court into some sort of golf course. So Joanna and Bobbie begin to look at what could possibly be making these women act like this, they get a big shock when at one point Joanna finds and shares a newspaper clipping that showed that at one point Stepford had a womens club and she later discovers that it seems like every woman in town was at one point the president of this club. Bobbie finally decides that the water is changing the women and it takes four months for the change, so she begins drinking bottled water. Some point later Bobbie and her husband have a 'second honeymoon' and whan she returs Joanna is terrified, Bobbie is like all the other Stepford women. Shocked Joanna begins to research and at one point befriends an African American author of childrens books, Ruthanne Hendry, the only other normal Stepford women. As her research grows deeper and deeper Joanna discovers the truth and when she gets home finds herself on a 'second honeymoon' weekend. There is more to the book, including a chilling ending I won't spoil. Once you know the truth it makes you mad, maybe even a little more than mad. The writing of Ira Levin is nice and easily readable, especailly considering how old this book is and the change of writing styles from the seventies to the current. Everything just flows and he leaves a lot up for the reader to picture. The ending isn't clear cut but most people could figure it out, it's rather chilling really. All in all I really fell in love with this book, I'll definately be returning to it at some point and it has made me want to check out both of The Stepford Wives films. All that is left for me to say is that this is a must for anyone who likes a nice little thriller, but this book today!

P.S. This book was written and published in 1972, so it is not an interpretation of either the 1975 or 2004 films.