The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

I’m still lagging way-behind on writing-up the nonfiction I’ve been reading this year, and I’m long overdue¹ to share my love of Holly Gramazio‘s debut novel, The Husbands. Which is excellent; truly un-put-downable. I’d come across Holly’s writing before by playing Dicey Dungeons, but I hadn’t realised that until later when, four chapters into this book, I decided to look her up (in the hope, perhaps, that she’d written any other books I could add to my reading list – the answer is… not yet).

Here’s the skinny. Lauren comes home from a night out to find her husband waiting for her. Which is immediately confusing and concerning, because when she left for the evening, she wasn’t married. But all the evidence suggests that now, somehow, mysteriously, she has a husband: she finds letters addressed to the pair of them, her phone is full of photos of them together going back through their wedding and beyond, and all of her friends back up the fact that she really has made a life with this man… that she just can’t remember.

But the weirder bit she discovers a little later. Whenever her husband goes up into the attic, he’s replaced with a different husband. A different man, it seems, that she could conceivably have married, in some strange alternate timeline. By controlling how and when they do so, she comes to discover that she can cycle through a seemingly-endless supply of husbands, and as she comes to accept and understand her new life, begins to use this as a kind-of… dating superpower? “Trying on” a husband for as many minutes, hours, days, or months it takes to decide whether or not to “keep” him².

That’s the premise, and it’s perfectly fun (although occasionally dark) – sort of a parody of “swipe-left/swipe-right” modern dating, taken to an extreme – but wouldn’t by itself be reason enough to recommend it. But what comes next is what makes it so special.

Aaand… I feel like I can’t say more without spoiling it. And you really should read it! Suffice to say that the writing is compelling, and engaging, and there are plenty sufficient twists and turns to keep you interested even if you wouldn’t normally go in for… what I’m going to describe as a romantic-comedy. Our protagonist’s situation feels relatable even while it’s unfamiliar, and I enjoyed both laughing at her exploits while also grieving her losses. And again: the surprises and quirks are really fun.

So yeah – you should 100% read this fantastic debut. I loved it so much, and everybody I’ve already recommended it to has agreed with me that it’s a great page-turner. And while you wait for your copy to arrive, why not generate yourself a random husband courtesy of a widget on Gramazio’s website?

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