The Restaurant Critic's Wife

By: Elizabeth LaBan

Narrated by: Angela Dawe

Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's Summary

People magazine included The Restaurant Critic's Wife on their Great New Fiction list and hailed it as "thoroughly entertaining."

Lila Soto has a master's degree that's gathering dust, a work-obsessed husband, two kids, and lots of questions about how exactly she ended up here.

In their new city of Philadelphia, Lila's husband, Sam, takes his job as a restaurant critic a little too seriously. To protect his professional credibility, he's determined to remain anonymous. Soon his preoccupation with anonymity takes over their lives as he tries to limit the family's contact with anyone who might have ties to the foodie world. Meanwhile, Lila craves adult conversation and some relief from the constraints of her homemaker role. With her patience wearing thin, she begins to question everything: her decision to get pregnant again, her break from her career, her marriage - even if leaving her ex-boyfriend was the right thing to do. As Sam becomes more and more fixated on keeping his identity secret, Lila begins to wonder if her own identity has completely disappeared - and what it will take to get it back.

©2016 Elizabeth LaBan (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Wife losing herself to her husband

I am so disappointed in his book. It’s well written but is a story of a woman losing her inner self to please a husband who can’t look beyond himself. In the book Lila allowed herself to be bullied by her husband. Lila is like a Phoenix rising from the dead after being defeated yet making excuses for the man who caused her death. Not a book I’d recommend to any woman other than a romantic who believes a woman’s job Is to reform herself to please an overbearing husband.

2 people found this helpful

So disappointing

I kept hoping Lila would come to her senses and ditch her incredibly self-centered and narcissistic husband, Sam, but no. This study in frustration wraps up tidily with Sam "agreeing" to "let" Lila work - but of course only part time.
I listened to this in my car and found myself yelling at the characters several times out of sheer annoyance. I listened right to the end in the hope that she would get it together, but I wasted my time.
And please, Lila, don't inflict your screaming children on us at any restaurant, ever.

1 person found this helpful

Great Book

This was a great book. I really enjoyed listening to this. The story line flowed smoothly and really held my interest. i evem learned a thimg or two about what goes into being a food critic. interesting.I look forward to reading more from this author


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Good Read

I took my time getting into this story. The author has great insight into real life situations and the main character matures beautifully.

Imagine a flight next to I'll behaved loud children

I enjoyed not perfect so much I tried this book. It was just painful. Some people are miserable and they feel entitled to inflict their misery on people around them. The world is not your babysitter. Idiots enjoying letting their 3yr old jump off steps. The screeching spoiled children inflicted on other diners. Yes it is too soon to take your kids out of you have not taught them how not to disturb othets. You obviously don't even want to be a full time mom and it is not your strength. You are miserable in your marriage but too cowardly to move out and start a better life. I hope no one buys this book. I wish I could get a refund.

I loved this book!

This was my first Elizabeth Laban book. since this one I've listened to all her over ones! it was beautifully written, I loved the characters and narrator. I would recommend it to anyone wanting a light read who loved food narratives. Made my mouth water!

My Thoughts on The Restaurant Critic's Wife

4.5 of 5 stars

This was one of those books that drew me in with how real it was. Real life problems, worries and frustrations. Lila was so relatable for me as a mom of two who often has her own struggles with wondering if I'm doing the right thing as a parent. I could understand the moments of feeling like you just aren't communicating well with your spouse no matter how much you love them. And I felt like I really connected with that desire to find the right balance to satisfy everyone involved. I don't often read books where the couple is established and dealing with the day to day of married life, but this book makes me want to read more of them.

As I read and listened I thought thought the narrator was amazing. I loved the emotions and variations in her voice when she was doing the different characters and conveying what they were feeling.

I definitely plan to check out more from this author and narrator.

not bad

The story was engaging- but I could never be married to her husband. good narrative.

remind me of old radio stories

good writing. Everyday mothers story. Not very interesting but it might be in 50 years.

So-so book

I generally liked this book, but I felt like the main character/the wife was still stuck.
I don't think I could be in a marriage like that, but that was her husbands dream and that's what she went a long with.
This book is defiantly going to have me thinking for a couple days.

disappointed

essentially a story about a woman whose husband is pretty narcissistic but she seems to gloss over that and believes all that's wrong in her marriage is caused by inability to understand him. Really disappointed to be reading something like this in 2018.