The Actor and the Housewife

By Shannon Hale

Book Overview

Becky is seven months pregnant with her fourth child when she meets her dream actor Felix Callahan by chance. Twelve hours, one elevator ride, and one alcohol-free dinner later something has happened,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1608192555
• ISBN13: 9781608192557
• Release Date: June 2010
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Felt like the author was writing a persuasive essay, to be honest.

I was really curious about this book because the setup sounded like a classic trashy romance book but the synopsis basically says it’s never going to be romantic, that it’s going to be about how it’s possible and valid to have a male best friend apart from your husband. Unfortunately, it felt like reading a very engaging essay. It was easy to read and the writing itself (while kind of hit or miss for me) could at times be very evocative and effective. It’s just that it felt like Hale was writing a persuasive essay on having intimate but platonic male friendships, where she goes through the different obstacles and systematically argues against them. It never felt like a real story. Everytime something happened I would think, “Okay, what point is Hale going to argue now?” Becky just felt like a mouthpiece for Hale, not a valid character. Speaking of it being essay-like, I felt many of the points she was making were weak and redundant. I also just didn’t like the characters very much. Becky felt too perfect. Even though she made mistakes, the way she went about identifying and resolving them felt more like a pamphlet of what you should do than a real person with real feelings. I liked Mike and Celeste, but I was never really emotionally invested in them. Other than that, some of the writing was really excellent. It also seemed to be written with heart, even if the heart didn’t translate to the characters, and didn’t take itself too seriously, which honestly saved it from being an even lower score. Some of it was genuinely funny and it was easy to read. I wouldn’t say people shouldn’t read it, but it’s more of an intriguing and engaging persuasive essay than an emotionally compelling story.

My Favorite Hale book!

This book is so much more then Chick-Lit. A heart warming story of a funny , loving and caring women that is madly in love with her husband , loves her kids, makes zucchini bread and just happens to be best friends with a Hollywood Heart Throb! I loved this story the first time I read it ten years ago and feel in love with it again just a few weeks ago! This is Shannon Hale at her best!

Another Good Read, Hale!

It's a "good read" when one is sad to see the book come to an end. Shannon Hale's recent novel, The Actor and the Housewife did not disappoint. It seems the reviews have been either love or hate. Hale touches on a sensitive, but not at all inappropriate topic of friendship with the opposite sex while being happily married. Is it possible? Becky Jack has the unique opportunity of meeting her favorite actor & heart throb Felix Callahan merely by chance (or is it) in L.A. A friendship formed. Can it last? You'll have to read it to find out.... Plot description aside, I laughed--not a chuckle, not a silent snicker, or even a tee-hee but a full out howl in laughter (much to my family's chagrin) numerous times. The dialogue between Becky & her husband and Becky & Felix was amusing, witty, clever, & scintillating! Hale's first novel to include her religion Mormonism, it is neither preachy nor doctrinal but gives an illuminating glimpse at the every day life of and the values of a Mormon mother & wife. I found myself in Becky. A Mormon mother of four, happily married and filling my life with these 5 jewels. I am content. Just one of the many parts in the book that I found myself saying, "....that's how I feel, too!" For example: "The calendar clung to September, but Becky was still in mourning for the wide open weeks of summer, a full and noisy house, outgoings to the zoo and pools and canyons. Becky didn't see autumn as a glorious and exciting time of change, wind peeling away layers, alternating breathing chill on your neck and cuddling you in bright bursts of warmth. No. She saw autumn as Not Summer." Beautiful imagery, isn't it? Creative dialogue, delicious imagery, witty expressions, reverence for that which is sacred, and tender relationships can be found in its pages. While this book may not be for everyone (what book is?) I closed the book last night with a sigh of sadness. Sorry to see it end. Well done (again) Shannon Hale!

A delightful, escapist piece of fun

Meeting up with your favorite Hollywood actor and hitting it off in a series of traded jokes and barbs is the stuff of movie scripts and private fantasies, and Becky Jack knows that as well as anyone. How to explain the fact that it's real, then, that she has the kind of strange chemistry with Felix Callahan that she once had with her childhood friend Augie, something almost like twin-speak and a mutual sense of the bizarre? Felix's life holds excitement and glamour, punctuated by movie deals and trips around the world with his beautiful wife, Celeste. Becky's life revolves around her four children, her husband Mike, and her various home and church projects. Despite being from opposite worlds, something cements their oddball friendship through ups and downs both between the two of them and within their separate lives. The book could so easily feel like the adventures of "Mary Sue," but it somehow escapes that, just as it escapes the friendship ever becoming cloying. Becky knows her own faults all too well, just as she knows Felix's, and both of them are blessed with tolerant spouses (both Mike and Celeste are welcome characters in this story). Instead, the story celebrates the nature of friendship itself, with all that it gives and takes in turns (not always fairly), and how little logic may affect where affinities fall. Our friendships may not make sense to anyone, including ourselves, but they offer the energy that propels us through life and makes the trip worthwhile--whether we are more like Becky and fated to view ourselves as hopelessly ordinary, or more like the "devastatingly handsome" Felix whom only such a friendship can save from being terminally shallow. The author pulls the story forward effortlessly, from absurdist humor to moments of heartbreak, and the result is a page-turner that is an absolute pleasure to read.

Reasons I liked this book

picked up this book on morning when I had a little waiting time. Once I started reading, I didn't want to stop. I finished before I went to bed that night, in spite of a packed day. I can't remember the last time I was sneaking in a few pages while my husband was driving. Here are some of the things I enjoyed about reading it: 1. It is a book truly different from anything else I've read. I can't think of any other books about platonic love at first site, and although I'm sure there are other books about someone ordinary meeting someone famous, I can't think of any that have crossed my path, certainly not recently. 2. It's all about the characters! I genuinely liked all of the major characters, and even the minor ones. There were no real bad guys here, and for the most part, everyone was on a journey, even if we didn't really see where they were going. The plot was in service to the characters, rather than the other way around. 3. It was fun and funny. There were some laugh out loud moments, even more chuckles, and a whole lot of smiles. There were also tears and more serious moments. I was genuinely engaged. 4. I even though I'm not (currently) religious, I liked seeing the LDS side of the book. I never felt preached at-- it was part of her life, but there wasn't an attempt to make it part of mine. 6. All in all, it was a nice book. There was conflict, and really bad things happened at points. Somehow the book remained nice through all of that. I realize for some people, this is a good reason not to come near it. Be warned!

Shannon Hale's work will make you a forever fan...

"The Actor and the Housewife" was my introduction to Shannon Hale's work, and I think I will be a fan forever. The unlikely friendship between Becky, a Mormom housewife who is pregnant with her 4th child while selling her 1st screenplay to Hollywood, and Felix, an English actor who despises children and drinks and swears, seems to work only because Hale has crafted its likeliness within the storyline. These are the things that "could" happen between a man and a woman who appreciate each other's friendship, without crossing the line of male/female friendships. As with any friendship, they weather good and bad times together, but this is no chick lit. We see the evolution of their friendship over almost 12 years and what happens with each of their families. We see their ups and downs and some very real sides of humanity. Although these two seem determined to be the best of friends, they do seem more like soul mates. Although this initially bothers Mike, Becky's husband, he is a human being who only ever seems to be kind, compassionate, and loving. And so the friendship goes on... When Hale prefaced the book with her love of Colin Firth, I really tried to picture Colin as Felix (the initials used are the same, if inverted...C.F. vs. F.C.?? hmmm...). But really, this character is all Hugh Grant. His kind of stand-offish personality gives way to smart aleck responses and even goofiness that makes him funny and lovable. (I do hope they make a movie of this book!) My advice would be to get this book, reserve some "Me" time and enjoy the way the story wraps around you, sometimes making you laugh out loud and sometimes making you cry. It's a story that can be real life because we never know where our lives will lead, and it's a story that can be a bit of escapism because we all need to know that we are appreciated and loved by another...if only living vicariously through Felix and Becky's friendship.

Incredibly Insightful-- Beautiful writing and intricate plot

You might be tempted to dismiss Shannon Hale's new novel The Actor and the House Wife as mere fluff. Don't. Yes, the premise details a woman who forms a relationship with her silver screen heartthrob but this novel also explores friendship, loyalty, family, love, faith and heartache. And the crowning achievement of this book, the elusive holy grail of writers-- is Shannon Hale's flawless portrayal of a good marriage. The movie star moments pale beside the beauty of a committed husband and wife dancing in the kitchen. Famous people bewitch us; they intrigue us. And it's a common fantasy to believe the movie star, the brilliant inventor or the charismatic politician would enjoy spending time with a man like you or an ordinary girl like me. I would make him laugh, provide insight into common life and fill that empty corner of his soul. Can't you see that longing in Daniel Craig's eyes? He needs me. For Becky Jack, it was Felix Callahan: a British Adonis who graced all her favorite films. When a chance meeting led to an instant rapport (totally believable, Daniel Craig would feel the same way about me), Becky felt like she was living the daydream of every woman in America. But fantasy doesn't fit easily into a married mother-of-four's reality. Felix didn't enjoy tagging along to the ward potluck and Becky could hardly leave her family to mingle on the movie set. And the biggest question-- one that is revisited over and over as the story unfolds--is whether a happily married Mormon mother of four should maintain a friendship with a man at all. Mormon women generally kiss their male friends goodbye on their wedding day. KC Brown was my closest buddy, my compatriot in zaniness until I fell in love with my beautiful husband. I neglected KC, along with my girlfriends, during that season of tunnel-vision romance. Later, my female friendships were renewed and multiplied, but I haven't cultivated a male friendship since. Would I love to see KC again? Would we laugh ourselves silly and concoct wild pranks? Would our spouses be completely annoyed? Yes, yes and oh yes. So I'm not chatting it up with KC or even looking for him on Facebook. But would I make an exception if he were famous, extremely wealthy and offered countless opportunities to my family? Maybe. And now I'm beginning to measure my words. How much shall I tell you? I want you to curl up and unwrap the book for yourself, layer by layer, moment by moment. I don't want to be like the annoying movie trailer that reveals every plot twist and discovery except for the oh-so-predictable ending. So let's chat about the novel's language, it's Mormonism and the oh-so-beautiful authentic marriage. Like many readers, I was introduced to Shannon Hale's fairytale imagination and poetic prose in The Goose Girl. Let the book fall open to any page and the reader is immersed in haunting, gorgeous descriptive words. The Actor and the Housewife is written in a completely different style yet Hale's comman