The Actor and the Housewife

By Shannon Hale

Reviewed by Kathleen Dalton-Woodbury
On 9/22/2009

Bloomsbury USA, 2009 Hardcover:
352 pages
ISBN-10: 1-59691-288-X
ISBN-13: 978-1-59691-288-5 Price: $24.00

First off, this is not a romance, even though the relationship Becky Jack has with her husband is very romantic.

Second, I suspect that this book could be a little uncomfortable for any reader who has not had a strong, though platonic, relationship with one or more members of the opposite sex.

I enjoyed it immensely. The dialogue is "snappy" and made me laugh out loud more times than I have in a book in years. The friendship it explores, between the housewife, Becky Jack, and the actor, Felix Callahan, is a lovely friendship, and it made me nostalgic for the good buddies I had before I got married.

I appreciated all that the author did to explore the complications of such a relationship along with the joys. When Becky's husband indicates that he has problems with her friendship, she breaks it off completely, even though it costs her. And when he realizes that it never threatened their marriage, he loves his wife enough to see how important it is to her and to her friend, the actor.

This book also made me cry, because sad things happen, and the author explores those honestly and completely as well. At no point in the story did I find myself thinking that there were questions the author had avoided or aspects that had been given short shrift. The author created characters with clearly shown motivations and well-thought-out reactions.

Becky is LDS, and her beliefs are part of the story. She even goes to her bishop at one point, and I found the meeting with him to be very believable. She prays when it makes sense in the story for her to pray, and she struggles with losses in her life in a way that also makes sense. She tries to be a good wife, mother, and friend, and I found her and the other characters to be true to themselves and very real.

One small thing that I particularly liked was how different people would confide to Becky just who the movie star they wished they could have been friends with was. For me, it would have been Patrick Swayze.

Perhaps this book is not for everyone, especially those who can't imagine anything other than a romantic relationship between members of the opposite sex. It worked for me, and if you don't expect a romance, it can work for any reader who enjoys real people in caring relationships.


Copyright 2009