The Husbands
The laugh-out-loud read of the summer
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3.9 • 151 Ratings
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
The time-bending summer read about dating that will have you laughing out loud
BEST SUMMER READ IN THE GUARDIAN, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, RED & DAILY MAIL
'The most fun I've had reading in the longest time' MARIAN KEYES
‘It’s clever and silly and funny and wildly imaginative and I bloody loved it’ PANDORA SYKES
'A wonderful, wonderful novel' JENNIE GODFREY
‘Properly laugh-out-loud funny’ RED, Books of the Year
What if you could change husbands as easily as a lightbulb?
One night Lauren finds a strange man in her flat who claims to be her husband. All the evidence – from photos to electricity bills – suggests he’s right. And then another one appears. Lauren’s attic, she slowly realises, is creating an endless supply of husbands for her. There’s:
The one who pretends to play music on her toes (urgh).
The one who turns everything into double entendres (‘I’ll weed your garden’).
The one who’s too hot (there must be a catch).
But when you can change husbands as easily as changing a lightbulb, how do you know whether the one you have now is the good-enough one, or the wrong one, or the best one? And how long should you keep trying to find out?
READERS HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH THE HUSBANDS
‘This book was INCREDIBLE! So inventive, funny and different’
‘I clapped out loud and cried’
‘I adored this book. Fast-paced and funny with heart’
‘Incredibly vivid, completely original’
'So many husbands so many personalities so much confusion so much fun!
SOON TO BE A MAJOR APPLE TV SERIES
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In The Husbands, video games designer turned novelist Holly Gramazio asks whether there can be such a thing as too much choice. The story begins when the formerly single Lauren returns home one night to discover she now has an endless supply of husbands, each delivered through the medium of her newly magic attic. Bringing today’s swipe-happy dating world to life, where a host of potential suitors are available to us at the touch of a button, all Lauren has to do is convince the men who appear in her flat to go back up to the attic when she decides she’s not keen, and another will appear in his place. It’s a bold idea for a plotline but Gramazio’s sharp dialogue and Lauren’s likeable character work together to pull it off. It’s a little bit Sliding Doors and a little bit Groundhog Day, but more than anything it’s an impressive premise and a fun read that looks set to be a big summer hit.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Video game designer Gramazio debuts with a charming speculative novel about a woman's difficulty settling on a mate. When Lauren, in her early 30s and decidedly single, returns one night to her London flat from a boozy evening out, she's greeted by a total stranger who says he's her husband, a claim mysteriously borne out by her photographs and texting history. This is alarming enough, but things get weirder still after Lauren's supposed husband climbs up the attic ladder to change a light bulb and a different man descends, one who also claims to be her husband. This revolving door of spouses persists for months, and Lauren discovers that various circumstances of her life—her circle of friends, her fashion sense, her career choices, even her apartment decor—alter with each change of partner. Gramazio's inventiveness and humor save the Groundhog Day–esque plot from tedious repetition (Lauren rejects one man immediately for wearing shoes with individual toes, another for filling a room with Funko Pops). Though Lauren's drastic action near the novel's conclusion feels a bit out of sync with the rest of the story, there's plenty of intelligence and candor in the author's creative spin on the conundrum of commitment. Gramazio is worth keeping tabs on.
Customer Reviews
Enjoyed but…
Loved the idea and enjoyed reading but the story didn’t really go anywhere or achieve anything for me.
Hmm
I loved the premise of this book, but after a while I found it rather boring.
Great debut
This book had me recommending it to friends and family one after another. It’s funny, short, while also partly tense and profoundly relatable.
When I picked it up, I thought, “This one could get boring after a few dozen pages.” But it didn’t! Reading through the very picturesque thoughts of the protagonist, I often found myself asking myself, “Would I do the same? Would I switch or would I stay?”
I’m going to keep this novel in my thoughts for a few more months.