Author Sarah Langan‘s Trad Wife hit shelves this week, and after careening through my advance reader copy in May, nary a week has passed when I haven't thought about this book. Consider getting yourself a copy right now, so you can join me in never quite leaving behind the dark, troubling world of Mia Wright, a trad wife influencer ruling the roost at Black Swan Farm.
If you're like me, or like prickly journalist Jenny Kaplan, you'll be tempted to trivialize Mia and all she stands for: a married woman who embraces traditional gender roles, nurtures seven idyllic children, serves her husband's needs above her own, and tends to every particular of her 300-acre farm while looking impeccable in a tea-length dress. And, of course, mines that lifestyle for views on YouTube.
But you, Jenny, and I will all come to regret underestimating Mia Wright. Still waters and all that, and Mia's hiding fathoms. And don't forget, Trad Wife tells the story of two fascinating women: as a journalist who has only barely survived both personal and professional ruin, Jenny is just as captivating as the subject of her article. If she lives to print it, that is.
From the book's synopsis:
A journalist descends into horror as she uncovers the sinister truth behind a trad wife influencer in this “flat-out brilliant” (Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author) blend of chilling suspense and razor-sharp commentary on modern femininity, performative domesticity, and social media—perfect for readers of Yesteryear, Mexican Gothic, and The Yellow Wallpaper.
Every day, millions watch Mia Wright, the “trad wife” queen, on her idyllic three-hundred-acre farm. With her handsome husband, seven well-behaved children, and a life of from-scratch meals and pastoral bliss, she’s an icon of modern femininity. But behind every perfect image is a secret. And in this case, the secret is a horror.
Desperate to save her tarnished career, journalist Jenny Kaplan arrives at Black Swan Farm to profile Mia. Jenny is ready to write a scathing exposé, determined to expose the deception behind Mia’s curated life. But soon, Jenny has more to contend with than staged videos and camera-ready poses. There’s something wrong at the farmhouse. Something slithers through Jenny’s dreams, and at night, the children sing strange nursery rhymes.
She’s losing time. She’s losing her hair. She starts to worry that she’s losing her mind.
There is a horror at the heart of Black Swan, and it’s waiting just for Jenny. Trad Wife will make you question what’s real and what’s just a perfectly curated deception…
Will you see the lie?
The trad wife trend has made its way into a few different thrillers over the past couple of years, because it's weird and ripe and allows us to examine the horrors of modern womanhood through a clarifying lens. But Trad Wife is so vastly strange that it borders on the eldritch, a perilous journey that has little in common with any slick airport thriller. Sarah Langan tells FANGORIA of the dark places this story visits:
The aspect I found most compelling about the trad wife trend is the pyramid scheme of it all: They're asking women to give up personal agency, so they can benefit financially. It's very Phyllis Schlafly – despite having been raised by a breadwinning mother, she ascended politically by convincing middle class homemakers that they didn't need an ERA. There's real horror baked into the architecture of these stories: Women reproduce patriarchy in order to survive, but at what cost? Of course, in my story, I added horror monsters!
Did she ever.
Trad Wife is available to buy in all your favorite book places. I suggest Bookshop.org, or heck, make your way to an actual by-god bookstore.
