Was the 1950s “happy housewife” really all that happy?

Housewives in post-war America had it all: fulfilled marriages, clean-cut kids, comfortable suburban homes with nice yards and two-car garages, and all the latest gadgets to make their housework easier.

The pain and horror of World War II were over. The economy was booming, and America was a world leader. American housewives were what they were always meant to be: supporting husbands, raising children, and building a home. Theirs was a life of ease. They were the fairytale princesses with the happy ending.

The women’s magazines told them so. The advertisements for laundry detergent and TV dinners told them so. The doctors who treated their children’s colds told them so.

Women in 1950s America were sold a bill of goods about their purpose in life and their futures. Some bought it and some didn’t.

The five women in these five stories didn’t.

These stories dig deep into the lives of five fictional characters whose gut told them their lives weren’t happy. They wanted something more.

In Fumbling Toward Freedom, Susan reconsiders her plans to forgo college for marriage after visiting an art exhibit one Saturday afternoon.

Mother of Mischief tells of Mary, who discovers her true worth after a tragic episode in her loveless marriage brings her past to light.

The story Soul Destinations is about Joan’s encounter with a has-been musician on a train that launches her soul’s journey.

In Devoted, Rachel’s Aunt Amelia teaches her about the consequences of a woman who takes on the role of caretaker and loses her identity in the process.

And, finally, there is Two Sides of Life, a story based on a true incident. Leanne’s platonic bond with the wife of her husband’s lab assistant shows her the true meaning of life just at the dawn of the women’s movement.

Five stories. Five women. Five roads that will lead to self-identity and fulfillment.

These are the stories of your mother or your grandmother, or even your great-grandmother. They are stories about the women we all know.

Purchase Lessons From My Mother’s Life today and walk in the shoes of five American women struggling with what Betty Friedan called “The Problem That Has No Name.”

What reviewers are saying:
“Smart, interesting, and down-to-earth, these are stories that are close to the heart of every woman, either because they lived through something similar, or because, as the title says, our mothers did.”
“Great short stories that really do speak to what women had to face in the mid-20th century.”
“I know my mother absolutely could have personally dealt with some of the experiences described in the book!”

This book also includes an Author’s Note and a bonus chapter from The Specter, the first book of the author’s Gilded Age saga, the Waxwood Series.

About the Author

Writing has been Tam May's voice since the age of fourteen. She writes stories set in the past that feature sassy and sensitive women characters. Tam is the author of the Adele Gossling Mysteries which takes place in the early 20th century and features suffragist and epistolary expert Adele Gossling whose talent for solving crimes doesn't sit well with her town's conventional ideas about women's place. Tam is also working on a new series, the Grave Sisters Mysteries about three sisters who own a funeral home and help the county D.A. solve crimes in a 1920s small California town, set to release in 2025. She has also written historical fiction about women breaking loose from the social and psychological expectations of their era. Although Tam left her heart in San Francisco, she lives in the Midwest because it's cheaper. When she's not writing, she's devouring everything classic (books, films, art, music) and concocting yummy plant-based dishes, and exploring her new riverside town. For more information about Tam May and her books, check out her website at www.tammayauthor.com.

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