The Stepford Wives (Mass Market Paperback)

by Ira Levin (Author) "The Welcome Wagon lady, sixty if she was a day but working at youth and vivacity (ginger hair, red lips, a sunshine-yellow dress), twinkled her..." (more)
Key Phrases: Men's Association, Ike Mazzard, Dale Coba (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"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 )

"Chilling...Entertaining...Read it." (Austin American-Statesman )

Product Description
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.

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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: 3.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #184,180 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 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 (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

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 10 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)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forget the 2004 movie, April 14, 2006

By	Y. Kirk "See my bookcrossing bookshelf at htt... (NSW, Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

WOW. If you have seen the 2004 movie, you have to read this book. The book and movie are not so far different that you don't recognise one in the other, but the ending is so different. The 2004 movie is bright and funny, and the book is dark and there is little to find funny. The husband is also a different person to the one in the 2004 movie, and I really think the movie lost the whole POINT of the book. I don't see Nicole in the role of Joanna, having now met the original lady in the novel. I shall have to search out the 1970's film, which is rumoured to be closer to the book at least in atmosphere. The book is a horror, even if no-one is killed and no blood is shed.

It is most certainly a book on the gender war, in the 60's (and today) where the men have the perfect wives at the expense of the lady's freedom. The poor creatures are tied to their houses, and their families. We all want a perfect house, and perfect children, but this is imposing the will of another on to unwilling or unsuspecting women, to create expressionless zombies.

To Quote a part from the intro 'I have always felt that, far from being anti-women, it is the Stepford men who are held up to ridicule and anyway, Levin wrote it as a savage comment on media-driven society which values the pursuit of youth and beauty above all else.' Bryan Forbes 1998 director 1976 movie version.
Creepy & Chilling.