Hi Reader,

One of bestselling author Jo Piazza’s biggest interests is trad (traditional) wives, which is the subject of her newest release, Everyone Is Lying To You.

(In case you aren’t familiar with trad wives, it’s a social media community of women who embrace traditional gender roles in marriage. They focus on sharing domestic duties, such as cooking, cleaning, and child-rearing, and a 1950s-style ideal of a more traditional, less feminist marriage. They often romanticize old-fashioned domestic life.)

In case it’s not yet clear by her book title, Everyone Is Lying To You, Jo’s not buying it! This novel of hers is a darkly comedic murder mystery about a trad husband being killed and his trad wife going missing at an influencer conference. It’s quick and compulsively readable, but don’t expect your average thriller. It’s really over the top and exaggerates everything that influencers and trad wives are to create a suspenseful narrative.

The book got me thinking about the Gilmore Girls Season 1, Episode 14, “That Damn Donna Reed,” when Rory’s first love, Dean, expresses his delight in Donna Reed’s familial role:

…And then, in turn, our very goal-oriented, feminist, aspiring journalist, Rory, dresses in 1950s garb and cooks him dinner.

Jo is local to me here in Philly, so I asked her to sit down and talk with me about Everyone Is Lying To You in the context of this pivotal Gilmore Girls episode.

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Remember, it's a good day to read a book.

-Jules

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