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The Wife Drought

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The Wife Drought

By: Annabel Crabb
Narrated by: Annabel Crabb
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About this listen

'I need a wife'.

It's a common joke among women juggling work and family, but it's no joke. Having a spouse who takes care of things at home is a godsend on the domestic front and an asset on the work front and is an advantage enjoyed by vastly more men than women.

Full of candid and funny stories from politics and the media, The Wife Drought shares intriguing research about the attitudes pulsing beneath the surface of egalitarian Australia.

©2014 Annabel Crabb (P)2016 W F Howes Ltd Gender Studies Social Sciences Funny Marriage Witty Thought-Provoking Discrimination Comedy

Critic Reviews

"Crabb is an excellent writer, and the book is penned with the wry wit for which she is famous." ( Crikey)
"A modern classic.... This is the conversation we have to have." (Lisa Wilkinson)
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This is my first read (or rather, listen) of Annabel Crabb and I must say I'm thankful I did! This book is both heartbreaking and hilarious at once. Annabel was a beautiful way of making you cry with the reality of it all and laugh loudly at the absurdity of it.

I don't know if this was one of the intentions of this book, but I have come away feeling like my position in the world as a stay at home mum and wife is far more important than it is given credit for. So Thank you!

A laugh when maybe it shouldn't be.

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This book clarifies a lot about what holds women back at work in Australia like our outdated cultural expectations. For example, how women are still held responsible for the cleanliness of their house, even if they work as many hours as their husbands and how women are just expected to be highly competent mothers whereas people fall over themselves to praise men for even the most tiny of parenting tasks. It also looks at what holds men back from taking time off from work to be with their children, from the exclusive language of things like "mothers group" to the much higher likelihood of having their request for work flexibility denied compared with women, as well as the highly conflicting expectations placed on men for them to be masculine breadwinners whilst being sensitive but not weak. Also, how fathers are automatically considered better workers with associated pay rises whilst women pay a motherhood penalty.

Fantastic eye opening book

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I’ve never wanted to scream YES at my phone so much in my life. Annabel Crabb is describing my life!

How do I get my husband to read this?

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It was Great book. Was an unbiased view and research into the male and female dynamics.

Truth told in a clever & humorous way

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Highly recommend for anyone trying to do the children/work juggle. I love listening to audio books read by the author, hearing the words exactly as they were intended to be heard - especially important with all the little witticisms sprinkled throughout this great listen.

Loved this book!

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Annabel crabb is such a good narrator, and i really enjoyed this book! so interesting, so well researched

what a great read

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I really enjoyed listening to this. Yes, it was my choice! It’s poignant from start to finish. Fantastic book.

Absolutely sensational

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The Wife Drought was a thoroughly enjoyable listening experience. The book is full of thought-provoking insights and some jaw-dropping stats about work-life balance and households' domestic arrangements, but it also abounds in funny anecdotes and Annabel Crabb's deliciously amusing prose.

The author's narration is bright and expressive. Her own personal experiences that are woven throughout the narrative are humorous but also instructive. The title might make it sound like a feminist rant, but there's lots of sympathy for stay at home dads and corporate absentee fathers as well. Above all, as someone who loves language, I loved the sheer style of this book and it comes through loud and clear in the audio version.

Thought-provoking and great fun.

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thought provoking, well researched, challenging the status quo with sound reasoning. The kind of author and actor we all want to identify with as an example of where we should be going as a society

a great read

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Absolutely loved this, not only is the reading of it brilliant but the book is superb - for any person, whether in a partnership and/or with children or neither of those, who is looking to refashion traditional roles to suit them. Highly recommend!

Fantastic

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