The Stepford Wives
First edition cover
|
|
| Author | Ira Levin |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Thriller, Satire |
| Publisher | Random House |
|
Publication date
|
September 1972 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 145 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | (first edition, hardback) |
| OCLC | 303634 |
| 813/.5/4 | |
| LC Class | PZ4.L664 St PS3523.E7993 |
The Stepford Wives is a 1972 satirical thriller novel by Ira Levin. The story concerns Joanna Eberhart, a photographer and young mother who begins to suspect that the frighteningly submissive housewives in her new idyllic Connecticut neighborhood may be robots created by their husbands.
The book has had two feature film adaptations, both using the same title as the novel: the critically acclaimed 1975 version, and the critically panned 2004 remake. Edgar J. Scherick produced the 1975 version, as well as all three of the made-for-television sequels. Scherick was posthumously credited as producer on the 2004 remake.
In a March 27, 2007 letter to The New York Times, Levin said that he based the town of Stepford on Wilton, Connecticut, where he lived in the 1960s. Wilton is a "step" from Stamford, a major city lying 15 miles away.
The premise involves the married men of the fictional town of Stepford, Connecticut and their fawning, submissive, impossibly beautiful wives. The protagonist is Joanna Eberhart, a talented photographer newly arrived from New York City with her husband and children, eager to start a new life. As time goes on, she becomes increasingly disturbed by the zombie-like, submissive wives of Stepford, especially when she sees her once independent-minded friends, fellow new arrivals to Stepford, turn into mindless, docile housewives overnight. Her husband, who seems to be spending more and more time at meetings of the local men's association, mocks her fears.
As the story progresses, Joanna becomes convinced that the wives of Stepford are being poisoned or brainwashed into submission by the men's club. She visits the library and researches the pasts of Stepford's wives, discovering that some of the women were once feminist activists and very successful professionals and that the leader of the men's club is a former Disney engineer and others are artists and scientists, capable of creating lifelike robots. Her friend Bobbie helps her investigate, going so far as to write to the EPA to inquire about possible environmental toxins in Stepford. However, eventually, Bobbie is also transformed into a docile housewife and has no interest in her previous activities.
...
Wikipedia