IT'S the book that's got women fuming and men secretly nodding their heads in agreement.

According to who you listen to, American agony aunt Dr Laura Schlessinger's new book The Proper Care And Feeding Of Husbands is either a throw-back to the dark ages or an enlightened tract for our times.

In her controversial bestseller Dr Laura, herself happily married, suggests the secret to a loving, lasting relationship with your man, involves not nagging, never refusing sex, always cooking dinner, letting him watch sport on TV with his friends, looking your best for him and generally making him feel good about himself.

So are Dr Laura's ideas 50 years past their sell-by date, or should women everywhere actually take on board her tips and transform themselves into domestic goddesses?

To find out whether her relationship recommendations actually work, we asked a couple from Stonefold Village, Rising Bridge, to test-drive her proposals for a day. . .

CLAIRE Gibson, 42, is a go-ahead managing director who has been married to her husband Nick, 46, for 11 years.

Claire describes their relationship as a 'marriage of equals'.

"We both have our own domestic chores around the house and share childcare of our six-year-old daughter Emma," she said.

So how would Claire the modern mum cope with her Stepford Wives-style transformation? She took the day off work to find out.

7.15am

Claire springs out of bed and lays all of Nick's clothes out on the bed. "Normally, I wouldn't even know what he was wearing," she said. She then offers her half-awake husband a cup of tea, does her hair and dons smart clothes, in preparation for her day as the "perfect" wife.

8.15am

Claire prepares breakfast for her husband - "normally, he'd get his own," she said - and sends him off to work with a big hug.

Midday

Claire rings Nick at work to tell him she will make dinner. "Normally Nick buys all the food," she said.

3.30pm

Time is running out and Claire still hasn't decided what she's making Nick for tea. In desperation, she buys a ready-made meal and decides to serve it in one of her own baking trays so Nick can't tell the difference.

5.30pm

Nick discovers the ready-made meal, but allows Claire to cook and serve up anyway. Claire cooks, all the while paying her husband a string of compliments. "He couldn't handle that," she said. "It's not like me at all."

8pm

Nick's mates come round for a drink. "I normally give them lots of abuse," said Claire, "But instead I said: 'Hello boys - would you like a drink?' You could say they were surprised." Nick and his friends then go out for a night at their local, without Claire of course. "Have a lovely time and enjoy yourselves!" cries Claire over their shoulders.

10pm

Nick is looking forward to coming home from his night out with 'the lads', thanks to Dr Laura's advice about wifely duties in the bedroom. Sadly, Claire is exhausted from her strenuous day and is already asleep.

Claire's verdict:

I didn't feel as if I was being myself. I felt very silly. There is no way I could have kept that behaviour up for more than a day. I would be exhausted!

"The days of the house being pristine and the little wife sat at home have gone.

"Presumably there are men who all this would appeal to but, quite frankly, if I'd married somebody like that, we wouldn't still be together."

Nick's verdict:

It was scary! It wasn't like Claire at all. I don't think there are many men who wouldn't approve of Dr Laura's ideas in theory, but they just don't work in the real world.

"I don't think women should behave like Stepford Wives, but I think they could appreciate us more. I sometimes think my wife would be happy to let me do everything around the house if she could!

"We are the first generation of men to take our fair share of the domestic chores because both partners are going out to work and I think we should get a little more credit for that."