The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin

I bought this book for a plane trip from England, hoping to read the book after having seen the movie sometime in the late 70s or early 80s. I didn’t end up reading it on the flight, as I got drawn into another great thing from the 70s, John Carpenter’s film “Assault on Precinct 13.” But, The Stepford Wives only languished a few weeks and I read it in three sessions over the last few days.

It started out slow, got slower, and then finally picked up speed, language-wise, about 1/2 through the 2nd part. The 3rd part was foreshadowed too obviously, and probably could have been cut to add to the tension of the ending. The book felt kind of light, even if it was an e-Book I was reading. It read more like a screen treatment, which is why the movie adaptation might actually be a bit better.

Having said that, the ideas the book dealt with: suburbia, submission, women’s liberation, careers, looks, etc. are very important and I’m glad that a book could approach them through the lens of the genres of science fiction and thrillers. It goes to show that fiction, especially genre fiction, is a useful tool for attacking the current constructed social, political and economic order.