Thank you to netalley and Random House for an advanced copy of Hausfrau, which comes out March 24th, in exchange for an honest review. 
 Hausfrau is everything I shouldn't like. A not particularly likable, if sympathetic, main character. A conceit that begins with an affair. For some reason, despite my love of Anna Karenina affairs just rub me wrong. But lump this in with Anna Karenina I guess because I was engaged all the way through. (And maybe that shouldn't be a surprise because our protagonist in Hausfrau is named Anna too?) 
 Conversations with a therapist serve as a brilliant framing device. It feels detached in a way. Gives a sense that things are not right, even if we could probably deduce that from the circumstances themselves. But it gives a better idea of Anna's frame of mind without feeling gimmicky. These are understated conversations. They feel more internal. And they work really well. It pulls me in and out of the narrative in a good way, keeping me on my toes. It pushes Anna's psychological journey as the main arc of the piece. 
 The setting was perfect. I don't know much about Switzerland, but Essbaum painted a place that was cold and isolating. While I'm sure this isn't the reality,but it's Anna's reality. She's isolated from everything she's ever known, and even years later she's still a foreigner in her new country. She acts as an outsider in her own house. As a reader I enjoyed the little glimpses of a country I don't know much about, knowing that I was seeing things through Anna's lens. I need to find some more fiction set in Switzerland. 
 Overall the tone of this novel is just spot on. It's an easy read. It's subtle and nuanced and hits on bigger ideas without belaboring the point and jumping and and down yelling "look at my big idea! Look at it!" It does not apologize for the lives of its characters, nor sensationalize them. And yet I am still fully enthralled. Essbaum drags you in to watch a woman's life spiral totally out of control. 
 While reading this novel I was reminded of a lot of flawed, captivating women of the stage in the best possible way. 
 Also the cover is awesome.