The Stepford Wives

The Stepford Wives is Ira Levin's chilling satirical thriller about Joanna Eberhart, who moves with her family to the idyllic Connecticut suburb of Stepford, only to discover that something is terribly wrong with the town's women. They're all impossibly perfect homemakers—beautiful, docile, and obsessed with pleasing their husbands—and Joanna's increasingly paranoid investigation uncovers a horrifying truth.

This slim, taut novel became a cultural phenomenon, giving the language a new term: "Stepford Wife" now refers to any woman who seems robotically devoted to domestic perfection. Levin's story works simultaneously as horror, social satire, and feminist critique, examining gender roles, suburban conformity, and male anxiety about women's liberation in early 1970s America.

The novel's premise—suburban men systematically replacing their wives with compliant robots—tapped into real anxieties of the women's liberation era. Levin handles the premise with perfect pitch, balancing suspense with dark comedy and genuine horror.

The book was adapted into a 1975 film starring Katharine Ross and has been remade multiple times. Its central concept has become embedded in popular culture. This one is a Book Club Edition.

About Ira Levin: Levin (1929-2007) was a master of suspense who wrote some of the most influential thrillers of the 20th century, including Rosemary's Baby (1967) and The Boys from Brazil (1976). His work consistently explored control, paranoia, and the dark side of American prosperity.