The days I had previously filled with the duties of chief cook and bottle-washer now lay strangely empty and stretched out before me like a blank canvas. I kept looking at it, but couldn't think of anything to paint . . . Preparing dinner for her husband’s colleagues, nervous, and listening to a woman complain about domestic slavery on the radio, Helen Robbins hits the bottle hard. For thirteen years she has lived a life of suburban predictability with Robert, bending to his boorish demands and allowing her once vital, independent spirit to retreat into the safety cage of mundane, dutiful routine. Over supper that evening she decides to throw off her role of domestic angel and hit him where it hurts: she dares to criticise his driving Riled by his wife’s comments over dinner an irate Robert sets out the next morning to prove himself and is killed in a freak accident. Helen’s life is about to transform. As she rekindles relationships with old friends and close family, Helen rediscovers the excitement of her former world. Tentatively stepping back into the fold, imbued with a new sense of power and adventure, she discovers for the first time the possibility of a relationship on her own terms - as well as certain thrill she never quite believed possible . . . and the surprises are only just beginning . . .

A successful career, a beautiful wife and children and his pick of the sexiest women in town. It seems Tarron has the best of both worlds as he manages to indulge in wild nights out with his lover and quiet nights at home with his family. But the party is about to end. When Tarron's cheating ways are revealed, his cool-headed wife, Secret, handles it like a pro. That's partly because, true to her name, Secret is hiding some bad behaviour of her own. And now, as Secret starts to truly live out her fantasies, neither she nor Tarron may be ready for the consequences.

For thirteen years, Helen has lived a life of suburban predictability, bending to Robert's boorish demands and allowing her once independent spirit to retreat into the safety cage of mundane, dutiful routine. Over supper that evening she decides to throw off her role of domestic angel and dares to criticise his driving. Riled by his wife's comments over dinner, an irate Robert sets out the next morning to prove himself and is killed in a freak accident. Helen's life is about to transform. As she rekindles relationships with old friends and close family, and is imbued with a new sense of power and adventure, she discovers for the first time the possibility of a relationship on her own terms - as well as certain thrill she never quite believed possible... and the surprises are only just beginning...

A mother-daughter story about the strong pull of tradition, and the lure and cost of breaking free of it. When Shoko decided to marry an American GI and leave Japan, she had her parents' blessing, her brother's scorn, and a gift from her husband-a book on how to be a proper American housewife. As she crossed the ocean to America, Shoko also brought with her a secret she would need to keep her entire life... Half a century later, Shoko's plans to finally return to Japan and reconcile with her brother are derailed by illness. In her place, she sends her grown American daughter, Sue, a divorced single mother whose own life isn't what she hoped for. As Sue takes in Japan, with all its beauty and contradictions, she discovers another side to her mother and returns to America unexpectedly changed and irrevocably touched.

‘I’ve left you a list on my desk,’ Rick said . . . The house fell silent and I wandered into the study to collect my instructions. There was only one scrawled piece of paper on the desk so there was no mistaking the single command. It said: organize Christmas. Helen is finally finding her feet just in time for the looming festive season. Surrounded by family, friends and the finer things in life, Helen’s generous offer to organize Christmas for the neurotic Leoni soon snowballs into an unmanageable avalanche of tasks when her chaotic boss dumps his seasonal arrangements on her too. And with Julia heading towards a mind-boggling midlife crisis of her own, it looks as though Helen is well and truly stuffed! And so it begins, the season of good grief to all women . . . Praise for Alison Penton Harper: 'Laugh-a-minute, frothy fun' Sunday Express

Housewives constitute a large section of the population, yet they have received very little attention, let alone respect. Glenna Matthews, who herself spent many years as "just a housewife" before becoming a scholar of American history, sets out to redress this imbalance. While the male world of work has always received the most respect, Matthews maintains that widespread reverence for the home prevailed in the nineteenth century. The early stages of industrialization made possible a strong tradition of cooking, baking, and sewing that gave women great satisfaction and a place in the world. Viewed as the center of republican virtue, the home also played an important religious role. Examining novels, letters, popular magazines, and cookbooks, Matthews seeks to depict what women had and what they have lost in modern times. She argues that the culture of professionalism in the late nineteenth century and the culture of consumption that came to fruition in the 1920s combined to kill off the "cult of domesticity." This important, challenging book sheds new light on a central aspect of human experience: the essential task of providing a society's nurture and daily maintenance.