Trad Wife

by Saratoga Schaefer

A ‘traditional wife’ influencer allows a demonic creature to impregnate her in this unnerving horror novel, perfect for fans of Nightbitch and Mary, from the author of Serial Killer Support Group.

Every #tradwife needs a baby. She’ll get one at any cost.

When Camille Deming isn’t cooking, cleaning, or homesteading in her picture-perfect country farmhouse, she’s posting about her tradwife lifestyle for her online followers. She takes inspiration from other tradwives on social media, aspiring to be like them, but Camille’s missing a key a baby. And contrary to what she posts online, things with her husband Graham have been strained. Pressured by her eager followers, Camille fears that without a baby, her relationship will suffer and her social media will never grow out of its infancy.

When Camille discovers a mysterious, decrepit well in the wheatfield behind her house, she makes a wish for a baby. Afterwards, she has unsettling experiences that she convinces herself are angelic in nature, and when she’s visited one night by a strange creature, her wish comes true. 

Camille’s pregnancy announcement gets more engagement than anything she’s ever posted—so what if Graham’s reaction is lukewarm? Camille’s life is finally falling into place. Never mind that her pregnancy is developing freakishly rapidly and she’s suddenly craving raw meat. Being a traditional wife is worth it.

Rosemary’s Baby for the digital age, this disturbing horror novel is one you’ll want to devour in just one bite.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Adult, Thriller, Contemporary, Feminism, Adult Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

Expected publication February 10, 2026

About the author

Saratoga Schaefer (they/them) is a thriller and horror author. They have a background in marketing, PR, film, and wellness, and spends a great deal of time hiking mountains and climbing rocks. Originally from Brooklyn, Saratoga now lives upstate with several needy animals and a haunted clown table.

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been staring into space for ten minutes without a clue as to how to review this book. It's full of irritating tradwife nonsense and unlikeable characters and it's beyond disgusting at points, and yet it's also just about unputdownable. I didn't like a single thing that happened in this novel and yet I enjoyed it tremendously.

Imagine Rosemary's Baby (if Rosemary had willingly agreed to the whole “gestating Satan's spawn” thing) but with modern — and grosser! — twists. There's a ton of social commentary to be found here, especially where the tradwife social media influencer lifestyle is concerned. I've never had any interest in the tradwife scene (because … ha, no), but I feel like the the author did a fantastic job of portraying the lifestyle and all of its … issues. Camille is completely insufferable and yet you can't help but feel a little sorry for her too.

But this book is about so much more than just the tradwife lifestyle. It's also about the sacrifices of motherhood and feminine rage and the ills of social media and oppressive gender roles. And, okay, there's also the whole bit about having a baby with a random creature that wanders out of the woods behind your house — Camille really makes some impressively bad decisions as far as that whole situation is concerned.

I do feel that the ending was a bit predictable. I mean, perhaps I've just read too many horror novels at this point, but could it have really ended any other way? It is absolutely a wild (and disgusting) ride, but I'm not sure that many readers are going to reach the end and think “Wow, I never saw that coming.” It's not necessarily a bad thing, though — knowing how it's all going to end only increases the sense of dread you feel as you make your way to those final pages. And, lemme tell you, the ending of this novel is absolutely not for the squeamish.

Overall, Trad Wife is an excellent horror story that addresses important societal issues in the most twisted way possible. It's full of gore and death and antiquated gender roles, and I both loved and hated just about every moment of it.

4.25 stars, rounded down.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. Its expected publication date is February 10, 2026.

[Jaidee · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.6 " the incubus may be the stud but the novel is mostly a dud" stars !!!

Thank you to Netgalley, and Crooked Lane Books for an ecopy. This will be released Feb 2026. I am providing an honest review.

A difficult review to write. This has 18 ratings thus far with an average of 4.5 stars. Not at all my experience. I was hoping that this would be THE Halloween read.

First of all...I was most excited by the premise of this novel of an Instagram Trad Wife getting involved with an Incubus to conceive...wow ....this could have been a most amazing psychological horror or supernatural horror but it is neither...

Camille... our insecure, dependent and needy tradwife....is just not well etched....I don't believe in her and I don't give a shit about her...as she is not real but rather a superficial rendering by a liberal agenda....deepen her psychology, make her real, make the reader care about her experience and place in life rather than draw her as a caricature....

Most of the prose is terribly cliche and mediocre (although there are a few passages of excellence)...
the plot is only semi-sensical, the interpersonal transitions are rather poor and I am not once afraid although a bit curious....then around the half way mark we move almost fully into body horror and I am out...running away....body horror is not my jam and in fact I find it both stupid and gross....I stopped reading at 58 percent as I just can't stomach it...don't need to hear every single detail of what was discharged from her vag....

I am sure many of you will love this but I was terribly disappointed and disgusted and not at all frightened which is just too bad...so sad for me as a reader....

Amazing book cover and premise...the rest not at all...

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2026 and I am thrilled to report that it did not disappoint.

I loved how the author uses the phenomenon of trad wife influencers to explore surrounding themes of feminity, equality and motherhood. While this novel clearly has a perspective on this performative social media, I appreciate that the narrative does not talk down to stay at home women who persue these more traditional paths within equal relationships.

I normally struggle to read novels surrounding pregnancy and delivery but I couldn't look away feom this trainwreck. I was surprised to find our protagonist so sympathetic in her desire for motherhood.

Finally, without giving away too much, I thought the ending was brilliant. It fit the story well, leading to a satisfying ending.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys these reading horror stories involving these themes. The story was perfectly plotted, grusome and memorable.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

ARC for review. To be published February 10, 2026.

1 star/DNF at 10%

I chose this because I thought this might be a fun little horror story about these TradWives getting knocked off, or, magically, getting parts of their brains back and turning on the patriarchy (but both #tradwives and #bad girls know that Santa never brings you what you want.)

By about twenty pages in I was getting suspicious. So I checked. This is by the same Saratoga Schaefer who wrote the abysmal SERIAL KILLER SUPPORT GROUP. I read that whole thing so I knew this wasn’t to get any better.

First of all, why is this woman a tradwife? Early trauma? Conservative family? Wants to be an influencer? Because they aren’t presented as really good or bad, there’s no moral judgment here, and we’re ALLOWED to poke gentle fun at these ladies, who will make chicken soup for you when you are sick but who also wrung the neck of the chicken. The FMC thinks (about infertility) “And it could be him, a voice in the back of my head points out before I chase it away. It’s true, the voice mutters, almost petulantly. I read a chapter about male infertility three weeks ago. It isn’t Graham’s fault. It couldn’t be. That’s not him this is supposed to work..”. Dear Lord, she JUDT FOUND OUT men can be infertile? And then dismisses it? I weep for our nation of young women.

So, don’t do it. There’s a good horror book somewhere in here. This isn’t it.

[Becky Spratford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review in the January 2026 issue of Library Journal

Three Words That Describe This Book: conversational narration, influencer horror, disquieting

4.5 out of 5

Other words: sinister, visceral, gory, motherhood horror, terrifyingly realistic, psychologically unmooring, Camille is sympathetic even though readers start by hating her. Ultimately unforgettable

Draft Review: Camille is happily immersed in the Trad Wife lifestyle, keeping an immaculate home while her husband works to finance it all. Her online content is rising up the influencer ranks, but without a baby, she cannot make it to the next level. Desperate for that baby, Camille finds a creepy, abandoned well at the edge of the woods, tosses in a penny, and makes a wish, calling forth a creature who offers to make her dream come true. But at what cost? Camille’s conversational narration and unsettling commitment to the Trad Wife lifestyle, lulls readers into thinking they have read this story before. They have not. Get ready for an intense, gory, and brutally honest tale where good and evil are unclear; where readers will root for things that will surprise them; where a psychologically unmooring, but undeniably happy ending will leave all feeling a lingering unease long after turning the final page.

Verdict: A nuanced and visceral deep dive into both the trad wife and influencer horror subgenres, in the sinister vein of Tantrum by Rachel Eve Moulton and Youthjuice be E.K. Sathue infused with the disquieting, grotesque beauty of The Shape of Water by Daniel Kraus.

This is not your typical trad wife horror or influencer horror. I know these are a trend right now, but this one starts unsettlingly and goes on a well paced (both reading wise and terror wise) trajectory straight downward and then makes a great twist toward at the end.

Overall this was satisfying in a way most influencer horror is not. Camille is flawed in so many ways, but Schaefer builds sympathy for her well. IT isn't just that her husband and the other trad wife influencers are flawed-- that is what most of these books do. This book gives Camille a reason for the turning to the trad wife lifestyle, one that starts off stereotypically and then as we learn more, gets more complicated. I loved that because you hate her at first and while you don't come to love her completely (which is also good), you feel for her.

This is it real or is it in her head of a lot of motherhood horror is missing here is well. As a mother myself, I sometimes resent this idea that the trauma is so intense it is all in her head, especial when it is done lazily where the reader could say it is just psychological. But now, this one-- it is visceral, feral, and yet, also beautiful. There is a creature here. He did come from the creepy well at the back of her property, he did give her the baby. And once the reader and Camille understand that-- the story blossoms from there. It becomes more than the summary.

Get ready for an intense story here where the heroes and villains are unclear, where more than just the trad wife lifestyle is skewered, where you will root for someone you didn't expect to at the start, and where you will find a horrific, complicated, and disquieting happy ending. And the fact that you will find it happy, is the unease that will linger with you as you turn the final page.

While I understand the comparisons to Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder based on the description, this is better comped to Tantrum by Rachel Eve Moulton meets E.K. Youthjuice by Sathue with a very healthy dose of The Shape of Water by Daniel Kraus.

[Reisa Bolog · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wowwww! I applied for an ARC of this completely blind and have no regrets. This book took me a day to read and I could not put it down. Fantastic writing, fantastic book. Very gory, not for the easily squeamish.

[Lia's Haunted Library · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have such mixed feelings about this one—love and hate in equal measure. The book takes on a lot: women’s autonomy, the illusion of perfection on social media, the pressure to conform, and the manipulation that hides beneath “traditional” values. At its core, it’s about choice—real choice. A woman can absolutely choose to be a homemaker or a full-time professional, but when that decision is coerced, romanticized, or filtered through someone else’s expectations, it becomes suffocating.

It also hits on the performance of perfection—the curated feeds, the “ideal” family life, the way people listen to influencers instead of experts. That part felt sharp and timely. What resonated most, though, was the question of purpose. As someone deep in academia and science, I understood the exhaustion, the quiet questioning of “is this what I’m meant to do?” That part felt painfully real.

The story raises important questions about women’s roles, societal expectations, and how both men and women contribute to the pressure to be everything at once. But the execution didn’t land for me—the characters felt flat, the pacing dragged, and the ideas that could’ve been powerful often got lost in the delivery.

I appreciate what Schaefer was trying to do, but ultimately, the delivery was not for me.

[kiki’s delivery witch ౨ৎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some books make you laugh, some make you think. Tradwife made me laugh, think, and mutter “oh no theydidn’t” at least five separate times. Schaefer takes a scalpel to the polished, beige world of the Tradwife movement (and yes, it bleeds flour and sourdough starter).

Camille, in the beginning, had me bristling. On one hand, she’s talented enough to create a highly selective science program (only a handful of teens got in), on the other… she bailed the second someone critiques her work. Which, to be fair, same. But then she gets funneled toward this perfect-wife-perfect-mother life she was raised in and for that looks great on Instagram but is basically a 24/7 unpaid job with no PTO. And the accuracy is almost unsettling. Schaefer nails that dynamic where women end up as basically baby factories and domestic servants expected to care for everyone EXCEPT themselves.

Then there’s Mara Shoemaker (who isn't a main but appears secondhand often) is the human embodiment of Ballerina Farm vibes. Highly capable, a (former) huge career of her own, and yet somehow redirected into the Tradwife pipeline where her entire existence seems to orbit her husband’s career and childrearing schedule, like the NASA moon landing but for casserole. Watching Camille and Mara interact is equal parts fascinating and rage-inducing.

The horror kicks in when Camille, desperate for that missing baby to complete her aesthetic, wishes at some creepy old well and ends up knocked up by a demon—hello, Rosemary's Baby but with filters. It's gross and spicy in the best way, with cravings for raw meat that eventually turns into some cannibalism, and it skewers social media's role in turning domestic drudgery into a cult. Camille's arc feels a tad too on-the-nose at times, like the satire's yelling instead of whispering, but hey, in a world full of tradwife influencers, who can blame it for cranking the snark? Solid horror with bite. Pun intended.

[paula a · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, thanks netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for this eARC!

My last thought when I read the last sentence of the acknowledgment was BOF. This was an amazing read. It truly offers what it promises: terror, body horror and social commentary. The author knows what they did, and they did an amazing job.

This is about a woman who has a social media presence but wants more. Traditional catholic, tends to her home and her useless of a husband, posting trad-wife content. Because of that, she realises she misses the most important part: a baby. And there's something calling her from the woods.

I have always said that I read anything and everything, but this? I was not expecting genuinely enjoying it so much to the point that disgust was something that kept me even more hooked.

If you do not handle body horror, pregnancy as body horror and more topics around such, this isn't for you. But a word of advice? It is very, very good and worth it, but don't eat while reading this.

[Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this is one of those books that is going to be talked about for a long time. Trad Wife follows Camille, an aspiring influencer who becomes pregnant under what we’ll call “unusual circumstances”.

Trad Wife is a brutal, unflinching look at how far someone will go to “have it all”. It takes a lot to grip me, but I could not put this down. The story is unique, the development of Camille’s character is incredibly well thought out, and the ending of this book made my jaw drop. Not for the squeamish, the body horror is intense.

Highly recommend to fans of Tender Is The Flesh, Maeve Fly and Nightbitch.

Thank you Crooked Lane Books for the ARC in exchange for this review.

[tee (rin's version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and the author for the advance copy om exchange for a penny of this honest thought. Ngl, it was impossible for me to put it down, I finished it in less than 24 hours after approved a copy.

The appeal of starting this book came from someone who's been married for 5 years and struggling with fertility with no baby yet and with the mention of Rosemary's Baby, I'm sold. When I told my husband I was gifted the arc and told him the context of the book, he cackled and was like 'they did not just give you a manual on how to, right?' Oh the giggle I gurgled out

I feel Camille's desperation and frustration, but also at the same time, I dislike her so much. She's spineless in her own way, I mean I have nothing good to say about tradwife lol. She was going to be top biologist for god's sake and she dropped out for a man who can't even brew his own coffee, sis get up I beg you :((

Now Graham. The husband. If Carpenter's Manchild is a character, it is definitely him. The fact that the creature was acting like a better husband than him is sincerely embarrassing. The creature were a husband more than he was. Bfr. The monsterfucker in me was happy yknow lol.

It's perfect how both of them pissed me off, author wrote them so well. Kudos

The way the author touched it with how unhinge Camille went through with it until the end of it, phew it was chef's kiss. The ending? Yknow what, go get it girl! Good for you.

Fair warning, there's a lot of quite graphic imagery so it might not be for everyone. But it is certainly for me.

[Livvy · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was immediately drawn in by the cover and the looking like a demon baby? Say less. The storyline itself was engaging, and there were moments where I genuinely felt pulled into the characters’ emotions. There were characters I was annoyed with, sad for, and wanted to yell at.

That said, I found myself correctly guessing most of the plot twists from early on. There weren’t many surprises or “I didn’t see that coming” moments, which left little room for imagination or shock. While I did enjoy the small amount of smut (it was well-placed), the story became repetitive at times, and I really wished Camille’s storyline had more impact and weight.

The book also gets fairly graphic with body gore. It didn’t personally bother me, but it’s definitely something that could be uncomfortable for other readers.

Overall, I did enjoy this read but I couldn’t rate it higher than three stars. I think Trad Wife had a lot of promise and could have benefitted from more twists, thriller pacing, and deeper character development. I would absolutely read this author again. I just had high hopes that weren’t fully met this time.

✨️ Book releases February 10, 2026

[marz native · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how Mara Shoemaker was very very **CLEARLY** meant to be the BallerinaFarm of this book lmao. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. I have many many thoughts about this book and especially the ending and as someone who eats up religious imagery.. yall know I was rubbing my feet together a bit.

The book pretty much follows a self proclaimed trad wife who finds community in other well to do women who document their perfectly curated lives for social media. Camille has difficulty conceiving with her husband so accepts the help of an “entity” to give her a baby. In the end, what should be her biggest peak, childbirth, ends up becoming her undoing and makes her question everything she knows about herself, the community of women she’s in, as well as the male figures in her life.

One of my favorite things about this book was the way the author writes Camille’s stream of consciousness. As a reader, you’re absolutely irritated by how dumb and naive she is at the beginning of the book and how she refuses to listen to her voice of reason, but then she admits that all the male figures in her life have made her feel stupid to even feel like her voice was one she could listen to, so, why would she? The childish naivete she possesses stands in opposition to her 3rd act pov where she finally starts being real with herself, starting with, my personal fav, not referring to that god awful creature as an angel💀

I could go on and on about the religious imagery in this book but that would be 6 more paragraphs, however, what I will say is I find it funny how for these trad wives religion is no different than the wallpaper they put up on their kitchen walls; its just a bit of embellishment for their lives. I think the author was trying to start a conversation that puts “The Creature” and the “unholy ones” in opposition to the God Fearing Trad Wives and Men, similar to Victor Frankenstein and The Creature. If that was the case, then we’re meant to ask ourselves… how different are yall to one another 💀 I mean all of them are sinners. Quite literally. One group is just upfront about it compared to the other. Camille spends her time trying to be a model Proverbs 31 woman all while not even knowing what the hell that is. Her only tether to religion is through her husband and the bible quotes the woman in her community post on their feed. It’s all an act for these people.

The ending was a bit expected given how it was built up to since the 2nd half of the book but a part of me also wonders if it’s doing Camille’s arc a disservice. Camille is a character who has only ever known life under the guardianship of male masters. First her father, then he was swapped out for her husband. Wouldn’t a better ending be her running off with her demon baby into the wild? How are we to believe that she isn’t repeating cycles again with the Creature since he’s her new love interest after all.

In any case.. I had fun with this one! Much to say about it for sure. #NetGalley #Arc

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy stories of creepy children, unsettling forests and feral women, this is the one! Trad Wife is a clever mix of Rosemary's Baby and The Omen, with vibes of The VVitch, mixing modern internet culture with eldritch horrors. If, like me, you have enjoyed recent fan favorites such as What Hunger and Julie Chan Is Dead, Trad Wife should absolutely be on your tbr radar.
Camille and Graham are a young married couple who have been trying, unsuccessfully, to have a baby. Camille is a #tradwife influencer on social media and has already branded herself as somewhat of a family vlogger despite her ongoing fertility struggles. She looks up to other lifestyle content creators in an unhealthy, obsessive kinda way. While on the surface and according to her social media presence, Camille's life is perfect, there are signs very early on that something about her marriage is... off, and due to unreliable narration, the audience stays unsure who is to blame for this quickly dilapidating relationship.
When Camille feels Graham pulling away, spending more time at work and away from home, she throws a penny into an old wishing well on their property in an act of desperation, praying for a child by any means. Afterwards, Camille does become pregnant, but it comes with a hefty price tag. As Camille starts hallucinating and questioning every aspect of her reality, the reader is dragged along with her, trying to unravel the mystery themselves.
Trad Wife is a satisfying exploration of the morality of having children on social media, social media influencers generally, consent and patriarchal standards. I devoured this and absolutely 11/10 would do it again.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to receive an ARC of this novel. Trad Wife is set to be published 2.10.26 and will be weighing heavily on my brain until I get to read it again!

[Mikey ಠ◡ಠ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will be very honest with everyone, I only read this because the publisher sent me a widget to read this book a few months ago and then I finally did it because I was bored. There, I said it. I also have no idea why the publisher sent me a widget in the first place since I read this author's previous book (Serial Killer Support Group) and rated it two stars.

Anyways, color me shocked out of my seat surprised because I found this book wildly entertaining. I don't know if it's because I've hit a slew of (fiction) books that I just haven't been vibing with lately or if I was mentally comparing this to Serial Killer Support Group and so I set my expectations really low at the start but yeah, I really liked this? I think this was the perfect combination of completely unhinged and hilariously satirical. I myself an not tired of influencer horror yet but did feel some trepidation reading about a trad wife influencer. And sidebar, I was actually, unironically, completely in love with Camille being a beige mom, something about that was so funny to me. There she was dressing her baby in beige (of course), oatmeal, and my favorite, tea with milk colored clothing and I don't care, I thought that was so fucking funny. Like girl you're a trad wife AND a beige mom? PLEASE pick a struggle. I think a lot of the premise worked for me but with Camille's backstory I think we could have pushed things even further? Actually to be honest I think we could have pushed things with all the characters even further, especially Graham.

I actually HATE that I have to say this because that man literally boiled my blood every time he was on the page but. There's two things that happen, now stay with me y'all because I'm going to be vague so we don't stumble into spoiler territory but these two things drove me NUTS. The first thing comes up very often in the book, I'd say almost every time Camille and Graham interact, this thing comes up so I got really excited thinking about ways it would come up at the end but...nope. It's just something Camille thinks to herself and it's literally never addressed. I felt like Charlie Brown while Saratoga Schaefer was Lucy and they set me up to kick the football then yanked it away from me at the last moment. Aaaargh! Even worse than that is Camille has a suspicion about Graham and when you combine this thing with the other thing that comes up, I am positive Camille is right! HOWEVERRRRRRRR what Camille finds that confirms her suspicions, and again, I hate to defend Graham here, but let's just say it wasn't really the smoking gun to me that Camille thought it was. And technically, Graham was right! And I'm so resentful that I have to say that! There's another character, Renee, that I liked and hated in equal measure. I liked and hated how completely annoying she was, like it was funny but it was also, maybe a little confusing? What was the overall point of her character? And I think her reveal could have come sooner as well, but maybe it doesn't because of Camille's tendency to bury her head in the sand about things. We might never know.

But honestly, whatever, this was just an off the rails goofy time and sometimes you really crave that. Or I do anyways. And I do appreciate the emotional journey Camille goes on, especially when you compare it to where she starts. 10/10 would read about Camille banging that freaky ass demon again.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Jennifer Ruppel - Dreher · Rating 3 out of 5]

My gut was to go with 2 stars but it is a horror novel. And I did sign on to read it!

The actual definition of horror is: an intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust.

I’m more of a scare the bejesus outta me kinda horror girl rather than one of disgust (this one literally made me gag more than once).

The Trad Wife starts off about a woman trying way too hard to be the perfect wife for the internet. It’s funny at first — until it gets seriously gross. Like, blood, puke, and “please make it stop” kind of gross.

It’s giving Stepford Wives meets Rosemary’s Baby with a raging nightmare thrown in. I spent half the time confused and the other half trying to keep my cookies down.

Weird, disturbing, and hard to look away from… but I kind of wish I had (I think?!?). This one will stick with me but I’m not sure how I feel about that. 😂

[em · Rating 4 out of 5]

Horrifying in the best way. This was both a clever commentary on social media, and an unsettling horror. I really liked the writing, it was easy to get into but also deeply uncomfortable and graphic in parts. Camille was an unlikeable main character but I think that works, given the plot and subject of this book. I loved the uneasy and slowly creeping plot, each chapter got more and more intense and by the end I was reading almost in shock. A fantastic horror!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. #TradWife #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[Jess ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

‼️ Book Review - ARC - Feb 2026
Trad Wife - Saratoga Schaefer
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Horror / Fiction

Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer was exactly the dark little spell I needed to break my reading slump. This story is delicious, beautiful, and absolutely disgusting - often all at once.

We follow Camille, a picture-perfect traditional housewife with a growing social media following. Her life seems charmed: a supportive husband, a cozy home in the countryside, and the dream of domestic bliss. But something’s missing. A baby.
& when Graham begins to pull away, Camille stumbles upon a hidden relic on their property: an old wishing well.
All it takes is a penny… and a whispered desire.

The writing is atmospheric and immersive.
I often felt like a ghostly observer, watching the story unfold from the shadows. While a few moments felt repetitive, it never dulled the tension or beauty. Schaefer’s style is lush, unsettling, and addictive.

If you’re craving a story that feels like folklore wrapped in silk and thorns, this one will leave you haunted.

Thank you to Saratoga Schaefer, Crooked Lane Books & NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

#bookreview

[Maeggie Dotts · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up to a 4

Thank you to NetGalley for early access to this wonderfully horrifying story. What better way to get back at your white bread, sexist, Christian husband then to have revenge sex with a mysterious creature. Also, it was unexpectedly hot is some scenes IYKYK. If you have tokophobia (fear of pregnancy/childbirth), this book will rip you a part. The gore is intense but very well written, almost like I was watching it happen. The reason I gave it 3.5 stars is because I wanted to know more about the creature! I was fascinated by the woods and the well I really wanted the lore. Overall, I really appreciated the social commentary on the pressures of social media/society and the effect it can have on sensitive or impressionable groups. If you can't join them, eat them.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 This was a nice surprise. This is definitely a horror novel for all the feral women who want to run away barefoot into the woods. It’s like Rosemary’s Baby with consent. It’s like The Shape of Water crossed with Nightbitch. A trad wife needs the ultimate accessory to beige trad life—a baby. Read to see her discover color. The whole story is incredibly symbolic. Love what the author says in the acknowledgements: “…the only way out is to devour.”

Glad I got this eARC from NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books. Pub date February 10, 2026.

[Caitlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars
ARC review

Camille is living an insta-worthy life - a successful husband, a quiet homestead in the country, and all the time in the world to serve her husband and share traditional values with her growing social media following. The only thing holding her back from achieving trad wife royalty alongside the likes of "Mara Shoemaker" (any likeness to real people is COMPLETELY coincidental) is her lack of a baby. Despite her desperate attempts to conceive and pull her husband's attention back to her, after months of negative tests (and wasted photo ops) she discovers an ominous well and makes a wish. She doesn't expect something to answer. An "angel" comes to her in dreams, then suddenly he's in her house with an offer she can't refuse.

Queue a fever dream about a demon baby and a mother who will do anything to protect her secret - horrific and DELICIOUS. This book breaks down and explores the trad wife epidemic/conservative content pipeline in gory fashion, as rage and motherly instinct open Camille's eyes to who she married. Even if you take out the bloodlust, the author does a fantastic job of writing the experience of a first-time mum and the ugly ways this love can manifest. I also really related to the isolation and difficulties Camille has relating to other mothers. This also ticks my ‘good for her’ box so tag your femgore-loving friends!

Each character has a clear persona and arc, especially Camille and I think her upbringing is a really crucial part of this story. Her husband (whatever his name was I already forgot), a man who we all know and despise, and their ongoing push and pull is heart wrenching to read. Overall this is really fast-paced and I could easily read it in one sitting!

As a rule I don't love books that lean heavily into social media/current trends as they can date quite quickly, but I make exceptions for thoughtful critiques which is what this book is all about. I think the author toes the line really well between poking fun and highlighting the actual harm done by influencers who glorify the trad wife lifestyle - both elements I enjoyed very much.

[Cody]

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. Respectfully I must DNF @ 10%. This one just isn’t for me. Given the current political and social climate, I’m just not interested in reading about the “trad” lifestyle. I hoped this book would work as perhaps a satirical take down of the lifestyle, a real prodding at what goes wrong psychologically for someone to aspire to the “trad life”. This would make a great thriller for MAGA if MAGA didn’t fear reading. I am respectfully DNF’ing.

[Rachel the Page-Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

We had “Nightbitch”. “Delicate Condition”. “Motherthing”. “Dearest”. All of these books have broached the topic of the ferality of motherhoood, but I think “Trad Wife” may have topped them all! This is the first book of 2026 that I’ve read, and I’m hoping it means some really great books are coming next year…

Camille is a #tradwife with a relatively small social media presence. She used to be into science, especially biology, but then she met Graham. After a whirlwind romance, she became a Trad Wife, taking pride in her appearance, making her home perfect and posting carefully curated pictures online. They even moved from the suburbs to the country, getting the perfect house with the aesthetic she needs for more followers. The only problem? She can’t make it into the #tradwife big league until she has children.

With Graham constantly working late, sometimes even spending the night with “friends”, Camille doesn’t have many opportunities to conceive - but she has a lot of time to explore their massive property. They have a wheat field that she loves, and beyond that, some woods that she can’t bring herself to enter. One day, she comes across a well near the woods. She drops in a penny and wishes for a child…and then…events transpire. Eventually, she does have a baby, and thankfully her husband isn’t around much to see her, because she’s different than other babies. In a very twisted way, Sweetheart teaches Camille exactly how far a mother will go to make their child happy.

This book was flat-out insane, in the best way possible. Sometimes I was slightly sickened. Sometimes I was laughing out loud. Sometimes I felt sorry for Camille. The entire time, I loved this demented story. If you liked any of the above-mentioned books, you’ll love this one. Five stars!

(Thank you to Boldwood Books, Saratoga Schaefer and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on February 10, 2026.)

[T.C. Kemper · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone into the weird, the unsettling, and the dark. A wild ride of a book that tackles the trad wife influencer movement and gives it a creepy makeover in the best way!

[Krystelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Now this, THIS is what I am talking about when I say that horror is a genre of social rebellion and resistance. This kind of book is exactly what horror as a reflection of how twisted society has gotten is meant to be, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Camille is a smart woman. Well, she used to be, before she met her loving husband and he lovingly isolated her and she lovingly accepted being a stay at home, everything from scratch, sole reason for living is to breed wife (emphasis on the sarcasm there). She has clearly been manipulated by a man who cares more for himself than her, and she has tricked herself in believing she loves it…until she accidentally makes a covenant with something in the woods.

From that point on, this book dives into a social commentary so salty it is delicious. There’s such an emphasis on how twisted Camille’s reality has become, and it’s both a takedown of trad wife beliefs but also of social media and influencer behaviour.

The story culminates with so much blood and gore the reader hardly knows where to look. The body horror is, quite frankly, delicious. I can’t even begin to explain how good this one is, and it is well worth the read.

[Kayda Noelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever read something that was just so outlandish and unhinged that you couldn’t put it down? That was this for me. I feel like that could be enough said, but I wouldn’t be doing it the level of unhinged justice 🤣

I ate this UP. My jaw was plastered to the floor. The descriptions, the detail…I felt like I was living this insane nightmare along with Camille. The absolute 360 that took place with her character from beginning to end was such a wild ride, and it was honestly so fun to read.

I will say, if you are not a fan of overly descriptive body horror, I would probably steer clear of this one 🤣🩸

A big thank you to the author, Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for this advanced copy. You can find this one on your shelves come February 10, 2026.

[OutlawPoet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun book. I did go into it blind, which...maybe not the best idea?

This is a violent and bloody book about motherhood and rage.

Camille is a little hard to take at first. She's sort of a half-hearted Trad Wife who yearns for social media greatness and seems to have very little personality.

She grows on you, though. Eventually, I was rooting for her and her child.

Keep in mind that, along with the violence, the book is surreal and bizarre. I kept getting Bunny-esque vibes and, more than once, found myself wondering what the heck I was actually reading.

All in all, I enjoyed it. I do think, though, that reading it when you're feeling bitey is best.

* ARC via Publisher

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absolutely terrifying in a wonderful way.

[The Anxious Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a flipping fantastic gory, horrifying, entertaining and interesting story. I can't wait to dive a little deeper into my thoughts with a full review closer to the release date.

[Nicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t always read horror…but when I do it’s because my friend wrote it so I know it will be amazing!! Toga this was all the things one would want in a body horror novel. I loved the commentary on social media and influencers. Just like your friend in the acknowledgment said, “beautiful and disgusting,”