The Husbands

For fans of books like Oona out of Order by Margarita Montimore and Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale or the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray, The Husbands by Holly Gramazio is the mind-bending story of what happens when Lauren, a thirty-something Londoner comes home from a bachelorette party to discover a strange man in her flat.  Who is this strange man?  A husband that she has no recollection of meeting, and yet there are wedding rings on their fingers and evidence of married life on her phone.  She is confused, and he is concerned for her health.

When this strange husband leaves Lauren momentarily to change a lightbulb in the attic, a different man descends the attic ladder who somehow also appears to be her husband.  Lauren has entered a Twilight Zone situation where each time a man goes up the ladder, reality shifts, bringing with it new home décor and a different husband.  Lauren is now trapped in a real-life version of Tinder where she speeds through men, looking for one that could be her forever husband.  Some husbands are no more than a pair of legs before re-entering the attic while others stay for days or weeks, developing a relationship before returning to the attic for one reason or another.

With each new husband, Lauren must piece together who she and her husband are in this reality.  Does she work at the same job?  What activities do they do?  Why does her new stepson have a pellet gun?

The Husbands kept me reading, wondering which husband would be “the one”.  Will it be the one who fixes her breakfast or one of the many that enjoys watching Mindhunter with her?  Will it be the gardener or the rich guy?  And what would happen if something prevented her from sending a husband back to the attic?

The Husbands was selected as a Today Show “Read with Jenna” book pick in April 2024 and is sure to be a discussion starter for book clubs.

For an extra kick, visit the author’s website, hollygramazio.com, for her husband generator that combines an assortment of names, places, hobbies, and jobs to create a mixture of husbands and give you the chance to say, “Thank you, next.”