Trad Wife
A Novel
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- Pedido anticipado
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- Se espera: 29 sept 2026
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- $299.00
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- Pedido anticipado
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- $299.00
Descripción editorial
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?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This slick, eerie horror outing from Bram Stoker Award winner Langan (Good Neighbors) sees New Yorker Jenny Kaplan, 32, lose her magazine job after online trolls target her for writing about her abortion. Desperate for work, she accepts a freelance assignment profiling trad wife influencer Mia Wright about her picture-perfect life at Black Swan Farms. Upon arriving, she finds Mia happily pregnant, her husband handsome and affable, and their seven children almost spookily well-behaved. But cracks appear when Jenny accepts Mia's offer to stay for a full week—motivated in part by Mia's desperate plea for help that she later laughs off. The human horrors—like the concept that Mia is staging accidents on camera, intentionally hurting both herself and her children in an effort to appear authentic to her fans—are more chilling than the supernatural threat, which, it's eventually revealed, stems from a historical injustice that feels a bit disconnected from the main thrust of the plot and somewhat dilutes the novel's patriarchal critique. Still, Langan's deep empathy for both Jenny and Mia adds impressive nuance to thorny questions about gender, autonomy, oppression, and complicity on the way to a devastating ending. It's a memorable entry in the recent slew of horror novels and thrillers sending up the trad wife phenomenon.
