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Women’s fiction focuses on the joys and trials of women’s lives. There is often an emphasis on the friendship between women. Angry Housewives follows the tradition of other works of women’s fiction—it explores the nuanced nature of female friendship, the impact of secrets, Adapting to Loss and Change, romantic relationships and divorce, and illness. Like other works of women’s fiction, Angry Housewives develops distinct female protagonists who act as foils to one another, or opposites who illuminate the other characters through contrasting qualities.
A prevalent trope found in women’s fiction is a narrative that culminates in the death of a beloved character. In Angry Housewives, the friends rally around Slip in the hospital as she dies of terminal cancer. In this way, it is similar to the novel Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah (2008), which explores the bonds between two best friends and ends with the death of one from cancer. It also evokes the novel Beaches by Iris Rainer Dart (1985) and particularly the play Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling (1987), which features an ensemble of female characters.
Women’s fiction has a history of being seen as inferior by academic institutions, and is regularly slighted for prestigious awards. Author Victoria Brookman writes:
The ongoing denigration of our genre is rooted in the broader cultural devaluation of female interests, passions and creations. This insidious systemic diminishing of girls’ and women’s socio-cultural interests can be internalised well into adulthood (Brookman, Victoria. “Victoria Brookman in Defence of ‘Women’s Fiction.’” HarperCollins Publishers Australia).
Author Emma Hughes also rallies behind women’s fiction, arguing that works in the genre are wide-ranging, not always romances, and are well-crafted works of substance: “However you define it, women’s commercial fiction is as diverse as the people who write it […] We don’t call novels with titles like Bravo Agent Mincemeat and The Leonardo Enigma ‘men’s commercial fiction’—we just call them ‘books’” (Hughes, Emma. “I Write ‘Women’s Commercial Fiction’—Why Is My Work Still Seen as Inferior to Men’s?” The Guardian).
Lorna Landvik is an American author of Norwegian descent who lives in, and sets many of her novels in, Minnesota. Landvik has a background in acting and experience in stand-up comedy, but she is best known for her several novels of women’s fiction. The first, her bestselling debut Patty Jane’s House of Curl (1995), focuses on the tumultuous lives of two sisters who run a hair salon in Minnesota and experience the ups and downs of romance, motherhood, and life. Landvik’s is known for balancing humor with pathos, unique characters, and realistic and grounded settings.
In her other novels, Landvik continues to explore the extraordinary moments of ordinary lives. In Your Oasis on Flame Lake (1997), Landvik examines, much like in Angry Housewives, the nuances of female friendship. Tall Pine Polka (1998) covers the disruptions caused among the residents of a small town, and in Welcome to the Great Mysterious (2000), an actress reconsiders her life when she pauses her career to look after her adolescent nephew. Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons became Landvik’s most popular novel, with its story of women’s friendships—and their book club—enduring decades of life’s challenges.
In some of her later works, Landvik explores new storylines while also examining themes and tropes seen in her other books. Oh My Stars (2005) features a heroine’s search for refuge in music and love, much as Merit finds refuge in playing the piano and Frank’s love. The View from Mount Joy (2007), though told from the point of view of a male narrator, explores heartbreak like in Angry Housewives. ’Tis the Season (2008), a holiday novella, delves into another familiar theme—that of second chances. The Last Circle of Love (2022) features an ensemble cast, like in Angry Housewives, and explores friendship, family, and faith as a pastor tries to rescue a failing church.
Landvik draws on her own life experiences for her novels. She also uses women’s magazines for historical research on the ’60s and ’70s. In writing Angry Housewives, she credits her training as a playwright and comedic training for her dialogue. She hosts an annual improv show, Party in the Rec Room, and is part of an improv actor’s group called Dudley Riggs.
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