Phenomenal Book Club!: How to be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway

My second book review:

I loved this book, but how do I explain why? First off, Margaret is a half-Japanese, half-white author, who writes a mostly fictional account of Japanese war brides and American military servicemen, so it's inevitable that I would be interested.

Secondly, each chapter starts with a 2-3 paragraph blurb from a book called "How to be an American Housewife" circa 1945 or so and not only is the sexism quite apparent, but also the manner in which Japanese wives are encouraged to behave in "American" households to please their husbands is astounding. For example, they mention that Japanese women should not overeat fattening American food, because they are supposed to walk on their husbands backs as a form of massage and if they are too heavy, it won't be pleasurable for their mate.

I read this book in one day, so I would recommend this book to anyone, who enjoys memoirs, wants some thought-provoking summer reading and has an interest in war brides.

Apparently, the military banned marriages with foreign women, but once their realized that the "problem" was too big, they said servicemen could date and marry them. However, they made them fill out loads of complicated paperwork, which often got lost in the bureaucratic mess.

The end.