The Actor and the Housewife: A Novel

Get ready to stay up all night. Shannon Hale, author of Austinland, is the author of this creative new novel, The Actor and The Housewife. At first, I thought the title was a bit lame, but after reading the book, it is quite appropriate! Ms. Hale has quite a talent for coming up with original, unpredictable stories.

The main character, Becky, is a Mormon housewife and mother of 4 children. Her husband Mike is lovable but a bit unbelievable. Maybe all Mormons are this nice?!! When straight laced Becky meets Felix Callahan, an actor that reminds me of Hugh Grant or Colin Firth, it is a true challenge of her moral beliefs and a bit of a dilemma for her friends and family.

The story is fast-paced, and I could not put it down, as I wanted to find out what happens! The Becky of this novel is the complete antithesis of Becky Bloomwood of the Shopaholic series, yet she is the same straight talking, smart, family oriented type that reminds me a bit of Sarah Palin! I also wholeheartedly enjoyed the fact that this book didn't have to rely on 4 letter words and violence to keep me interested.

This book is the perfect escape book when you need to turn off the world for a few hours...just make sure you are sitting in a comfortable position while reading it!

I like this book. While it had some intense moments and some tragedy--for the most part it is fun to read. The dialogue between characters is snappy and quick-paced, especially between the Actor, Felix and Becky, the Mormon housewife.

This book is really about friendship, a deep abiding love between two people who are not romantically involved. Their friendship spans years of joy and heartbreak, and the two are richer for it.

The book does have some moments that drag. There are pages of dialogue from the actor's movies, some email texts and other things that do not propell the story forward, but slow it down. But thankfully, those instances are few.

I would recommend this book to anyone wanting a light read with some intense moments. Overall it is very enjoyable.

I have only recently discovered Shannon Hale - what a delight!
This novel "The Actor and the Housewife " is delicious fun. It looks at the idea of a famous actor ( think Brad Pitt, Hugh Grant) meeting a housewife from Utah- and the results of this extraordinary connection.
The novel pursues the what if your celebrity crush collides with your real world. And this is what I found so enticing. Many of us leading our serious Mom lives surely daydream every now and again about an event or person which might cause a few tremors ; Shannon Hale asks us to go the whole nine yards with that daydream.
The repercussions - how Becky's husband, kids and Becky herself -live through this encounter is the entertaining and surprisingly emotional basis of this novel.
Yes it's implausible ( it's fiction, people!) but I loved the fleshed out idea of this premise - to really met a celebrity who found you as fascinating as all your daydreams? With ( in my opinion) an ultimately satisfying ending too.
The author writes with witty, precise and poignant prose, laugh -out- loud humor and at the same time thought provoking commentary on where our female -ness may lead us.
Becky frequently confronts a range of reactions to her ongoing relationship with Felix without losing sight of the absurd situations which arise out of her celebrity crush/friendship.
I subsequently read many serious and almost anxious reviews on this novel to do with the idea of a male friend in a marriage, so its worth mentioning that the backdrop for this improbable love story is a satisfying tale of marital love and commitment.This is not a serious morality tale, simply an entertaining read from start to finish.
I look forward to more fiction from Shannon Hale and encourage readers to enjoy the romantic comedies by this author.

Mormons are back in the spotlight, or at least the topic of the new contemporary fiction novel by the New York Times Best-Selling author of Princess Academy. Only this isn't Big Love or the Osmonds, it's more a chapter out of Stephenie Meyer's life story than anything else.

Becky Jack is your average LDS housewife complete with a house full of kids, a loving husband and an obsession with baking pies. But she has a secret--she's really a screen writer hoping to hit it big with a script, and she just might pull it off with the help of Felix Callahan, the Hollywood hunk of the month who is charmed by a chance meeting with the seven-month pregnant soccer mom. Felix is a former womanizer and sometime drunk who needs a mother more than anything. So when Becky stumbles across his path and he is able to help her negotiate the contract for her first screen play, he plays along with the suburban lifestyle and the unlikely pair become friends, best friends.

That's where the plot goes a little crazy. Instead of a smooth story arc, you get a haphazard linear tale of Becky and Felix's friendship--the ups and downs of motherhood, the highs and lows of life in the lime-light, an unexpected battle with caner and a Hollywood divorce that goes just as you'd expect. While the characters are totally endearing, I spent half the novel battling a stomachache wondering how everything can play out that perfectly with too many characters performing an intricate dance along delicate moral lines that everyone conveniently avoids crossing. Yet this book's saving grace is the witty dialogue and amazing supporting cast of characters.

This book is not for Hale's YA readers--it is more reminiscent of Susan Elizabeth Phillips' Honey Moon than Book of a Thousand Days. It is not quite a romance novel (love and sex are not the focus of the relationship between the hero and heroine, though there is still plenty of sexuality) and not quite chick-lit either (Becky lacks the independence found in that contemporary genera). While I am sure it is meant to be more modern Jane Austin-esque than anything, it is a little too moral-driven and left me wondering if non-Mormons will even get it. So here's an extra star for writing something completely different and setting it in Salt Lake City (yes, Nielsen's Frozen Custard really is that good), but it lacked the solid storyline I expect from Hale and believability I'd expect from a novel of this kind.

This is another witty exploration of the question: Can men and women just be friends when they are each involved in committed, romantic relationships with others? You'll think "When Harry Met Sally" but you'll be pleasantly surprised with all the twists and turns Ms. Hale provides. Great dialogue; great characters, great story-telling. Refreshing and fun.

I enjoyed this novel immensely and found I could not put it down! Though it was often like a "romantic comedy", it was surprisingly poignant. The characters were funny and engaging. There were a fair amount of surprises along the way and the novel rarely went in the direction that I thought it was going to go. One of those wonderful books whose characters stay with you after you put the book down. I look forward to seeking out more novels by this author!

I really like Shannon Hale's books in general, filled with uplifting girl power. I generally prefer fantasy worlds to real life, so really like Hale's Bayern series. Austenland is great too with the mix of real and modern historical "experience". This book, The Actor and the Housewife stays in the real world yet seems much more far fetched. It was often very funny and well written but somehow left me cold tot he heroine. SPOILER: Finally though I truly believe I "should" appreciate the autonomous woman ending, I would definitely have tossed it for a romantic finish.

I love Shannon Hale- she is my favorite author probably, so I snatched this up. However, as soon as I started I was very disapointed. I haven't even finished it all but hate it so much. It isn't badly written, and the plot is fine but the things that happen with Becky and her family regarding Felix are so repetitive. I read the ending and was very disapointed- it was predictable, but not cliche, but I still thought that it should've been different. Shannon Hale did a good job on this book- as others have said, if she wasn't writing it, it would've been worse- but her YA fantasy are so much better, and Austenland too. I'm just very disapointed overall. I still love her though.

I LOVED Austenland. It was a fantastic book and I wrote Shannon Hale a fan letter (my first ever) to tell her so. She wrote back and was really cool. So I was really looking forward to her next novel for adults. I snatched this book up as soon as I could and read the whole thing in 2 days.

It just didn't do it for me. The writing is excellent, but I didn't find Becky Jack likable or interesting. It wasn't the kids - it was her morality. In many ways she was so tightly laced I started feeling rather claustrophobic. I mean, I agree that one shouldn't sleep around just for fun, but sometimes she was so vanilla, so much 'mother and wife' it drove me crazy. Where was the wild, individual, side of this girl? And wild is a relative term, but she was too into 'nesting' with the family for me. It felt like she was considered a 'housewife' as the cover says and nothing more. Not an individual, a human being, a woman, first. If she hadn't been imbued with Shannon Hales' fabulous sense of humor, I would have put the book down immediately.

What kept me reading was to find out whether or not she would get together with Felix Callahan. SPOILER ALERT AHEAD!!! In the end, she doesn't, and I felt pretty jerked around, as the book is over 300 pages and there was all this intensity between them. I also agree with another reviewer that there was too much between them for them to be just best friends. There just was. I have several very very close male friends and we are not as lovey dovey/touchy feely as these two were! The words spoken between them were more like lovers than best friends (and I'm pretty direct and open with my male friends). It was so disappointing to read through and be left with nothing. I think it's great that Becky was thinking about herself as a woman with a new life ahead of her at the end, that was really necessary, but it could still have been possible for there to be something between her and Felix and she asked him for more time or to go slow, or whatever. It's not clear that Felix felt the same as she did - that their kiss was a failure. He seemed really affected by it. It seemed like it was just Becky who didn't believe, and that her life was so much 'wife and mother' that it was going to take her another 3 years to find herself again. So that really made me not get into her. She just didn't seem to have an individual identity. She was always missing the kids or Mike or wishing they were there, not meeting some of the experiences on her own and enjoying that experience for herself. So it felt like she couldn't really do anything on her own, which made her seem weak.

I also think it's a good idea never to give characters fatal illnesses. I just think that's too easy. When Mike got cancer my interest and belief in the book dropped about 50%. I think something more original and interesting could have been done. Maybe even more challenging for the author to write. The initial cancer flare up was written in about 3 pages as well, which made it seem like a last minute plot fixer.

I hate to write negatively about any book, but have to be honest. Shannon Hale is a great writer and I'm sure other people will love this book. I'll still pick up her next one!

I love the emotional roller coaster that was this book! I have not laughed as hard while reading a book in a really long time. I would definitely put this in the romantic comedy category with some definite heartache mixed in. It was such a fun book!

I almost bought this book and then decided to check it out from the library. So glad I didn't spend money on it.

The general plot (famous actor and housewife becoming friends) was fairly implausible itself but I could imagine how it could happen. The way it played out in this book, however, was beyond my ability to suspend disbelief. It was just too unbelievable that such different people would have a nearly instant connection -- or at least one strong enough that the actor would seek out the married pregnant housewife. After a bit I started skipping through the book to see if there was something in it to really enjoy.

The writing itself was pretty good (at least at the commercial fiction level I enjoy; fans of great literature probably wouldn't be very impressed). There were parts of the book that rang true but I don't want to talk much about them because it would spoil the plot for those who decide they'd like this book even though I didn't. Let's just say they didn't involve the actor & the housewife. Those parts made me cry. I felt them deeply and thought they were the most believable of the entire book.

I wondered if part of my inability to get into the plot was the Mormon background of the female lead character. But even if I imagine her instead as a deeply committed believer of the evangelical Christian background, I still wouldn't find the plot at all believable.

To enjoy this book, you really have to be able to believe two things: first that a married famous heartthrob actor feels a nearly instant connection with an average woman (much less one who is hugely pregnant) and pursues a friendship with her; second that the actor is able/willing to engage in a deep but purely platonic friendship with this woman. I don't many (any?) regular men -- much less Hollywood types -- who would do the second. Despite that I read a lot of romance novels, which require their own level of ability to suspend disbelief, I couldn't believe either of those two things.

This book didn't work for me and I was disappointed, especially because I had enjoyed listening to the audiobook version of Austenland: A Novel.

Hilarious! I laughed out loud more times than I have with any other book. It is a perfect book for a book club because everyone I've talked to has a different opinion on how the book should have ended. It was such a fun read!

I had an extreme reaction to this book. An extreme and unexpected reaction. The thing is I haven't reacted so strongly to a book for quite some time and it took me a bit by surprise. Oh, well, who are we kidding? It threw me for one hell of a loop and I had an extremely hard time shaking it off. Despite all this I'm going to try to continue my tradition of spoiler-free reviews and, as a result, won't be able to tell you the precise reasons why I reacted the way I did. I won't be able to go into excruciating detail explaining exactly how and when my emotions bounced back and forth. But let's be honest. That's probably for the best. So.

Becky Jack is a Mormon housewife living in Layton, Utah, pregnant with her fourth child. She has just sold a screenplay to a film agency in LA and is meeting them there to sign the contract, when in walks Felix Callahan--sexy British star of Becky's favorite romantic comedies. The two of them clash right from the start and, despite their visible disdain for one another (and the fact that Felix has long been Becky's movie star crush), they find themselves staying at the same hotel and eating dinner together that night. Becky returns to Utah sure it was some fluke, a fun story to tell the fam, and that she'll never see Felix again. Au contraire, Becky. Turns out Felix hasn't been able to get their abrasive encounter out of his head and the next time he has a layover in Salt Lake City, he turns up to see her and figure out what the deal is. From there these two unlikely characters become the very best of friends. Talk on the phone daily, stay up all night long talking, drop everything to jet off to New York at a moment's notice kind of BFFs. As you might expect, a whole host of factors get in the way of their "friendship," including at times concerned/jealous spouses, their different faiths (or rather Becky's strict one and Felix's utter lack of one), their diametrically opposed lifestyles, etc. Self-proclaimed platonic lovers, these two weather the small and large storms of life as their friendship and story stretches out over a decade and more.

I'll preface my comments by saying I have read all of Shannon Hale's YA books. I love her The Books of Bayern Box Set, Books 1-3 and thought her first adult novel Austenland: A Novel was a fun, light romp for Austen fans. I expected to like this book just fine. I knew it would be quirky and different and fun. I certainly didn't go in expecting a happy ending because, well, given the subject matter who would? I laughed my way through the first 100 pages because any scene Becky and Felix share sparkles. I even cried. Once. At a scene about 80 pages in or so that was just so real (and a little close to home) it struck me in the gut. However, I felt that the next 250 pages were an uneven roller coaster ride of conflicting emotions, increasingly hard-to-swallow turns of event, and very inconsistent characterizations. Every aspect of the story felt so deliberate and pre-planned that it got in the way of my reading experience. It was strangely a prime example of too much telling and not enough showing. The narrator and Becky herself told me over and over (and over again) how much she was in love with her solid-as-a-brick-wall husband, how little Felix meant to her compared to Mike, how she would never do anything to jeopardize her marriage, etc. Her actions spoke differently. The actual depiction of her marriage was lukewarm at best. The rock Mike was too vague an image to grasp onto. Next to Felix he was a mere smudge. Felix clearly meant an inexplicable amount to Becky. And vice versa. These two cannot function properly without each other. They will always be returning to each other. The crystal clear, most evocative, and resonant depictions were of Becky and Felix. And it was simply too difficult for me to buy everything Becky was saying in the face of what she was showing me page after page. THE ACTOR AND THE HOUSEWIFE is an exploration of whether or not married men and women can be friends and just friends. The answer is, of course, yes. But that is not what Becky and Felix are. I know that's what they're supposed to be. But they're not. They are intimates. They are soulmates. That is the way every encounter, ever glance, every touch is characterized. The intent seemed to be some sort of Humphrey Bogart-Ingrid Bergman-Paul Henreid triangle a la Casablanca. The result was a Rock Hudson-Doris Day-Tony Randall anti-triangle a la Pillow Talk. And by the time the overwrought, rushed ending arrived I felt so completely jerked around I was unable to deal with the melodrama a moment longer.

I'm really sorry it ended this way, THE ACTOR AND THE HOUSEWIFE. I know you've gotten a lot of positive reviews and it's quite possible it's me and not you. Fortunately, each reader can decide for herself. And I hope they do. As for you and me, I think it's time we start seeing other people.

I love Shannons young adult writing. This was just yuck! I love her writing stlye and she makes me laugh and cry but the whole time I read this book I just wanted it to end and get it over with. I had to finnish it or I am not sure I would have kept reading. There is such a fine line in the time we live in when it comes to marriage and adultry and this book crosed the line for me so many times and she made everything seem ok with that! Only in a book could a woman get away with this. It could happen in real life but should it? I don't think so. Find a girl friend. Why write this? Unless you wanted to make it ok which it isn't. Maybe she just wanted to ruffel feathers with this book whitch she has. Oh well. I recomed not to read it. It was a waste of time.

I have never read anything written by Shannon Hale, so I have nothing else of her's to compare this to. I do read a lot of different types of genres and have a pretty open mind about different literary styles. This is just a really badly written book. I wanted to stop after the few few chapters and just couldn't believe it kept getting worse and worse. But in fairness, I forced myself to finish. And wish I hadn't.

First, none of the characters are even mildly realistic or appealing. The "heroine" is essentially a sitcom character, full of one-liners and nonstop perkiness. She is offset by the movie star character, who only seemed real to me when he dumped the heroine in a bar and flirted with other women. There seems to be no basis for the friendship whatsoever, much less the "complicated" obsession the two have for one another. This seemed like a Mormon housewife's silly fantasy rather than a psychologically-complex and mature novel that touches the heart or soul.

The basis of a sitcom is one-liners. Real people do not speak that way, and it's not funny...it's cringe-worthy. The dialogue is forced, the characters are underdeveloped, there is no real exploration or psychology or tension, the plot is absurd and repetitive. In the end the actor and the housewife do not get together, which is hardly surprising since (to me, at least) there was nothing to ever suggest that they would.

If you fell in love with Shannon Hale after reading Princess Academy, this novel will cure you quickly. While Hale excels at writing young adult fairy tales, her adult realistic fiction is sorely lacking. The premise is weak and the dialogue is cheesy and corny. About a relationship between a Mormon housewife and a famous leading man, the novel is too permissive to appeal to conservative Mormons and too "goody, goody" to appeal to the rest of the public, leaving it with no audience. My advice is to stick with her YA fiction -- fabulous stuff.

Since I am an admitted Austen fanatic and had read Shannon Hale's Austenland and enjoyed it I chose the Actor and the Housewife off of the the store Vine program. Unfortunately this book left me wishing I had chosen another book. The main character who is a Mormon housewife pregnant with her fourth child and and a writer. She meets a famous movie star and after many ridiculous chapters about "can they really only be friends" I will admit I stopped reading the book. I know many reviewers loved this book so hopefully you will find something interesting about this book that I didn't.

I give this book five stars because the story got under my skin and stayed with me. I found Becky really relatable and Felix a wonderful "bad boy." Although the ending may not have left them where I wanted them to be, it felt authentic and true to their characters. I laughed and I cried, a lot. I hope Shannon decides to write a sequel. I'd love to know what comes next for these characters. Wonderful book!

Shannon Hale is one of my favorite authors. Which is why I still like the book though I'm not crazy about the genre. The story has an interesting idea that will keep you reading. Overall, I feel the book is just alright.

The Actor and the Housewife is beautifully written, and it's like nothing I've ever read before. It is witty, clever, heart-warming and thought-provoking. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a new and different read. Shannon Hale never disappoints, she writes amazingly well in any genre!

I really enjoyed this book. It explores the dynamics of friendships and romantic relationships in a funny and sometimes heart-wrenching way. There were many times I found myself giggling out loud. I recommend it!

After reading Austen land I decided to read The Actor and the Housewife. I fully understood that it was a different type of book and writing for Shannon Hale. I was just SO incredibly disappointed in the story. I honestly have never disliked a book as much as I did this one. (actually I hated it completely) The main character had a borderline affair with a british actor which caused heartache in both of their marriages. I read 3/4 of the book and then skimmed the last few chapters and then read the last chapter completely. I was so sicken and sadden by the story, but I was trying to finish it because others had told me it was good. I really wish I had never read it. I would never recommend this book to anyone.

Unlike many reviewers, I had never read a book by this author before. I actually purchased this novel for light reading during a recent vacation so my expectations were pretty low to begin with.

This novel portrays the perfect wife / husband / familial relationship with more syrup than one would put on pancakes. The "banter" between Becky and her hollywood heartthrob Felix seemed forced throughout and the only character that seemed vaguely interesting (although even he was just too, too perfect) was Becky's husband, Mike. That this uber naive housewife / screenwriting novice sells not one, but her first two screenplays is pretty far-fetched, the fact that she is chosen to star in one of them opposite her BFF Felix is just obtuse beyond words.

I thought I'd read this to recommend to my book club, but will not do so. I rarely regret buying a book, but this is one time I wish I could take it back to the store. I truly regret giving the author any part of my hard-earned paycheck. Will not do so again.

I really like Shannon Hale's books in general, filled with uplifting girl power. I generally prefer fantasy worlds to real life, so really like Hale's Bayern series. Austenland is great too with the mix of real and modern historical "experience". This book, The Actor and the Housewife stays in the real world yet seems much more far fetched. It was often very funny and well written but somehow left me cold tot he heroine. SPOILER: Finally though I truly believe I "should" appreciate the autonomous woman ending, I would definitely have tossed it for a romantic finish.

i read the first chapter and felt physically ill. becky is completely ridiculous and unrealistic. (i.e. no woman exclaims "whoa!" when she feels a baby kick, especially in a room of strangers) as a mormon, or as a member of any christian faith, it is offensive that this idiot compares her baby's movement that coincidentally occurs when an actor and complete stranger enters the room to john the baptist, elizabeth, mary, and jesus! from the first few pages it is already obvious how predictable this book will be. the story has been played out in way too many 80's movies. throwing in the whole religious aspect makes it even more detestable. any one who is happily married would not seek friendship or companionship with a member of the opposite sex, which from the title, one can assume the direction this book is going to take. i will not be reading any more and will be returning this book. the one star is far too generous.

the plot was really cute, but it kinda just dragged for me. kinda. i did like it. and it had some really heartfelt moments that were really well written. but i just thought it would have turned out differently.