Featured in The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, and the Toronto Star "A bold, intoxicating, page-turner" - Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six "A brilliant, brooding, timely novel" - Mary Kubica "Explores the joys and limitations of the role of wife" Fiona Davis "A nail-biter of a tale, and one that kept me up long past my bedtime" - Jennifer Robson "One of the most emotionally stirring explorations of women's lives I have ever read" - Jamie Brenner "Perfect for your next book club discussion!" - Marissa Stapley "How the roles of women have changed and how they've stayed the same" - Ann Hood "Questions how much has really changed for women over the last 60 years" - Booklist "How the patriarchy shaped women's lives in the 1950s and continues to do so today" - Kirkus When Alice Hale leaves a career to become a writer and follows her husband to the New York suburbs, she is unaccustomed to filling her days alone in a big, empty house.
But when she finds a vintage cookbook buried in the basement, she becomes captivated by its previous owner: 1950s housewife Nellie Murdoch. As Alice cooks her way through the past, she realizes that within the pages Nellie left clues about her life.
Soon Alice learns that while a Baked Alaska may seem harmless, Nellie's secrets may have been anything but. When Alice uncovers a more sinister, even dangerous, side to Nellie's marriage, and has become increasingly dissatisfied with her own relationship, she begins to take control of her life and protect herself with a few secrets of her own.