In this captivating dual narrative novel, a modern-day woman finds inspiration in hidden notes left by her home´s previous owner, a quintessential 1950s housewife. As she discovers remarkable parallels between this woman´s life and her own, it causes her to question the foundation of her own relationship with her husband--and what it means to be a wife fighting for her place in a patriarchal society. When Alice Hale leaves a career in publicity to become a writer and follows her husband to the New York suburbs, she is unaccustomed to filling her days alone in a big, empty house. But when she finds a vintage cookbook buried in a box in the old home´s basement, she becomes captivated by the cookbook´s previous owner--1950s housewife Nellie Murdoch. As Alice cooks her way through the past, she realizes that within the cookbook´s pages Nellie left clues about her life--including a mysterious series of unsent letters penned to her mother. Soon Alice learns that while baked Alaska and meatloaf five ways may seem harmless, Nellie´s secrets may have been anything but. When Alice uncovers a more sinister--even dangerous--side to Nellie´s marriage, and has become increasingly dissatisfied with the mounting pressures in her own relationship, she begins to take control of her life and protect herself with a few secrets of her own.