The Housewife Blues

A small-town woman struggles to survive her big-city marriage in this fish-out-of-water story from the bestselling author of The War of the Roses. 

There’s nothing newlywed Jenny Burns wants more than to be the woman behind the man, the kind of wife that keeps a home in perfect order. But can her Midwestern values survive being relocated to Manhattan’s East Side? She thinks so, though her advertising executive husband Larry thinks she’s too naïve and warns her not to trust anyone, even the quirky neighbors in the brownstone where they live. 

But Jenny can’t hide her true self, and she can’t help getting to know the building’s other tenants. There’s the wildly fashionable magazine editor having a secret affair, a stressed-out family facing hard times, a power couple struggling with infertility issues, and two gay men who keep losing their cat. As her standoffish, workaholic husband becomes the building pariah, Jenny turns into its resident saint—opening her eyes to just what she’s capable of when she trusts her heart . . .

“In this breezy, bitingly funny novel, Adler creates an adept lineup of New York types, such as Larry’s unshaven, expensively rumpled business partner Vincent, who clash with Jenny’s wholesome aura in a string of amusing . . . scenes that build to a gratifying climax.” —Publishers Weekly