The Actor and the Housewife

I'll admit it. When I started reading this book, I was determined to dislike it. I really wanted to hate it. I read many reviews (even the ones full of spoilers) trying to decide if I wanted to read it in the first place. See, the problem is that I have loved every book Shannon Hale has ever published, but I heartily disagree with the subject matter in this book. It's about a mormon housewife (stay-at-home mom, 3 going on 4 kids) who meets her favorite British movie heartthrob while she's in LA selling a screenplay and becomes best friends with him. I mean best friends. Talk on the phone constantly, plan weekend trips to hang out (spouses included), etc...

I'm not going to give a lecture on this blog, but I just have to say this: I think it's wrong to have a best friend of the opposite gender when you are married. I won't get started, or this blog will get too long. Just wanted to get that out here up front.

That said, let's get back to how I wanted to hate this book. Problem is, I couldn't. Shannon Hale is literary magic, and I couldn't help laughing out loud. Several times. And crying. And what surprised me is that by the end, looking back on the journey Becky had gone through, I felt like she never was unfaithful to her husband. She always put him and her children first. Especially when it mattered. And it even seemed that, for Becky's personal story, Felix (that's the Actor) being involved in her life was the right thing at the right time. I feel like I'm being pretty cryptic here, but there are some major spoilers I'm trying to avoid. Hopefully I'm not botching it here.

Anyway, The Actor and the Housewife is not for every Shannon fan. I know many who have read it and found themselves asking, "Why Shannon, why???" I don't even know if I can tell you definitively whether or not I liked it. It was thought provoking, but I don't feel like I can gush about it and recommend it to all of my friends. I do, however, respect Shannon Hale as an author for being brave enough to write this book when she must have known how many of her fans would dislike it.