When you wish at the wishing well
Book review: Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer
Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer
Published: February 10, 2026 by Crooked Lane Books
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Synopsis:
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 component: 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.
Rating:
Review:
In the opening chapters of this book we are introduced to four of the six recurring characters. Camille, Graham, her father and her mother (who died when she was a child). I immediately despised all of them. Which was the point. The only person I had the least bit of sympathy for was Camille. She was raised to believe that being a good wife and a mother was her sole function in life. If she can only manage to be the perfect helpmate then she’ll have a fabulous and rewarding lifestyle. A lot of women can relate to being raised in an environment like this. And being duped into believing that being a good wife is the key to a rewarding life. I felt a lot of empathy with her in her naivety.
And, at first, it works. Her husband is distant but willing to spend exorbitant amounts of money on making sure she can perfectly manicure the #tradwife look for her growing following online. She has the floral dress, the apron, the spotless house, the bread making, the garden, and the home cooked meals ready when Graham comes home. And, even better, they just moved into the perfect farmhouse with plenty of space to grow her trad wife life and her online following.
The only thing Camille doesn’t have is a baby. They’re trying, but it just isn’t happening. How is Camille going to launch herself into the next level of trad wife stardom without a baby? So, she literally visits an old well on their property and wishes for a baby. Then she gets visited by an angel who offers to give her a baby. Well, she’s not really sure it’s an angel but she’s going to pretend that it is. It quickly becomes clear that it was not an angel, but by then it’s too late.
As things progress through the pregnancy and through the plot there is really only one way that things are going to end. Indeed, that’s exactly how it goes. But along the way this tells a beautiful story about the journey of womanhood. The naivety of youth. The anger and despair when you realize that the patriarchy lied to you about everything just to extract your labor and your body for their benefit. Then the absolute rage and desire to burn the system down when you realize that it will never suit your needs, nor even see you as a human being with real needs and wants. This was glorious. It was such a poignant tale of feminism and female rage. I loved every sentence and I wanted it to continue.