Quick Synopsis

An exuberant debut, The Husbands delights in asking: how do we navigate life, love, and choice in a world of never-ending options? 

Publisher’s Synopsis

When Lauren returns home to her flat in London late one night, she is greeted at the door by her husband, Michael. There’s only one problem—she’s not married. She’s never seen this man before in her life. But according to her friends, her much-improved decor, and the photos on her phone, they’ve been together for years.

As Lauren tries to puzzle out how she could be married to someone she can’t remember meeting, Michael goes to the attic to change a lightbulb and abruptly disappears. In his place, a new man emerges, and a new, slightly altered life re-forms around her. Realizing that her attic is creating an infinite supply of husbands, Lauren confronts the question: If swapping lives is as easy as changing a lightbulb, how do you know you’ve taken the right path? When do you stop trying to do better and start actually living?

Book Review

The Husbands is a debut novel about one woman’s journey through many husbands after her attic begins magically swapping them out. Originally single, Lauren comes home from her bestie’s hen party to find a strange man in her apartment. All signs point to them being married. When she sends him into the attic, a different husband descends.

I was not even one-third of the way through The Husbands before I wondered where this book was headed. Although this novel is labeled literary fiction, even at that early point, I doubted that characterization. Lauren was sending husbands into the attic like she was swiping left. But the narrative lacked a deeper consciousness about her choices that I expect from literary fiction. And for me, that made this novel a bit of a dud.

The Husbands’ plot largely consists of Lauren’s interactions with the husbands, her friends, her family, and occasionally her coworkers. With each new husband, Lauren must suss out what has changed in her life and determine whether she wants to keep the husband. By the novel’s midpoint, Lauren has already sent back 160 husbands. Needless to say, things became repetitive rather quickly.

In addition to the repetitious nature of the plot, The Husbands lacked character development. Since this novel largely relies on the protagonist and events to drive it forward, I expected Lauren to be well-developed. Sadly, I never felt that I truly came to know her, what she wanted out of life, or her motivations. All of these things, in my mind, are central to choosing a lifelong partner.

I think if The Husbands had included commentary about accepting people’s flaws or really anything about the abundance of choices I would have enjoyed it more. There was nothing deeper to take away from the story. Instead, it is just a story of many possibilities that is quickly overwrought. Overall, I found The Husbands to be a rather pointless, semi-entertaining book with no message. If like to read simply for entertainment’s sake, then you may enjoy The Husbands. 

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