Meagan Church – The Mad Wife at Volumes Bookcafe – Chicago, IL

Join us in welcoming author Meagan Church to Chicago on tour with her new book, THE MAD WIFE. We will have a talk followed by a Q&A and book signing/meet & greet.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Meagan Church is the author of emotionally-charged, empathy-inducing novels, including The Mad Wife, The Last Carolina Girl, and The Girls We Sent Away, a Southern indie bestseller and North Carolina Reads state-wide book club pick for 2025. After receiving a B.A. in English from Indiana University, Meagan built a career as a freelance writer. She is an adjunct for Drexel University’s MFA in creative writing program, and helps authors tell their own stories through editing, coaching, and workshops. A Midwesterner by birth, she now lives in North Carolina with her high school sweetheart, three children, and a plethora of pets.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

From bestselling author Meagan Church comes a haunting exploration of identity, motherhood, and the suffocating grip of societal expectations that will leave you questioning the lives we build—and the lies we live.

They called it hysteria. She called it survival.

Lulu Mayfield has spent the last five years molding herself into the perfect 1950s housewife. Despite the tragic memories that haunt her and the weight of exhausting expectations, she keeps her husband happy, her household running, and her gelatin salads the talk of the neighborhood. But after she gives birth to her second child, Lulu’s carefully crafted life begins to unravel.

When a new neighbor, Bitsy, moves in, Lulu suspects that something darker lurks behind the woman’s constant smile. As her fixation on Bitsy deepens, Lulu is drawn into a web of unsettling truths that threaten to expose the cracks in her own life. The more she uncovers about Bitsy, the more she questions everything she thought she knew—and soon, others begin questioning her sanity. But is Lulu truly losing her mind? Or is she on the verge of discovering a reality too terrifying to accept?

In the vein of The Bell Jar and The Hours, The Mad Wife weaves domestic drama with psychological suspense, so poignant and immersive, you won’t want to put it down.