Margaret Dilloway, author of How to Be an American Housewife, on tour July/August 2010

About How To Be An American Housewife

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult (August 5, 2010)

A lively and surprising novel about a Japanese woman with a closely guarded secret, the American daughter who strives to live up to her mother’s standards, and the rejuvenating power of forgiveness.

How to Be an American Housewife is a novel about mothers and daughters, and the pull of tradition. It tells the story of Shoko, a Japanese woman who married an American GI, and her grown daughter, Sue, a divorced mother whose life as an American housewife hasn’t been what she’d expected. When illness prevents Shoko from traveling to Japan, she asks Sue to go in her place. The trip reveals family secrets that change their lives in dramatic and unforeseen ways. Offering an entertaining glimpse into American and Japanese family lives and their potent aspirations, this is a warm and engaging novel full of unexpected insight.

“Charming, poignant and life affirming. Dilloway reminds us of the triumph of love over geography, silence and misunderstanding. She makes us glad to be alive.”
—Ann Hood, author of THE KNITTING CIRCLE

“A tender and captivating novel of family secrets and redemption, and a compelling look at the complex love languages spoken within three generations of a family.”
—Jamie Ford, author of HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET

About Margaret Dilloway

Margaret Dilloway was inspired by her Japanese mother’s experiences when she wrote this novel, and especially by a book her father had given to her mother called The American Way of Housekeeping. She lives in Hawaii with her husband and three young children.

How to Be an American Housewife is her first novel.

Visit Margaret’s blog, American Housewife, HERE.