Publishers Weekly
03/18/2024
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. (Apr.)
From the Publisher
NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR FROM THE WASHINGTON POST AND THE STAR TRIBUNE
“Delightfully addictive . . . a bottomless champagne flute of a novel.”
—The Washington Post
"Charming...there’s plenty of intelligence and candor in the author’s creative spin on the conundrum of commitment."
—Publishers Weekly
"Richly characterized, philosophical, and funny. I enjoyed all the husbands, even (especially?) the terrible ones. A time-bending gem about the way we live now."
—Gabrielle Zevin, New York Times bestselling author of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
"The Husbands is a wily and wonderful exploration of modern decision-making, kaleidoscopic and bright and very, very funny."
—Claire Lombardo, New York Times bestselling author of The Most Fun We Ever Had
"Brilliant, hilarious, surprising and wise. I devoured it."
—Naomi Alderman, New York Times bestselling author of The Power and The Future
"The Husbands is WONDERFUL: fresh, original, hugely entertaining and oddly comforting. . . . I laughed out loud countless times. . . . [This] was the most fun I’ve had reading in the longest time. It is an utter delight."
—Marian Keyes, bestselling author of Again, Rachel and Grown Ups
"Clever, fresh, inventive, The Husbands is wholly original."
—Louise O’Neill, author of Asking For It
"The plot allows the author to explore current attitudes and approaches to dating and mating from a fresh perspective... A fun take on a big question."
—Kirkus
Kirkus Reviews
2024-01-05
“Love the one you’re with” is the song’s advice, but is that really still the best approach?
When Lauren, a single woman in London, returns home a little tipsy after a friend’s hen party, she encounters a strange man in her flat. He sounds like he knows her and, despite her concerns, doesn’t seem to represent a threat. It takes some time for Lauren to figure out that he’s actually the husband she’s somehow acquired in another life. It takes her more time to figure out that the attic over her flat, courtesy of an electrical malfunction, will be sending her an apparently endless stream of husbands once she sends each previous one back upstairs—this is not a novel about bigamy. Lauren finds her own circumstances (job, hairstyle, decorating scheme) changed with each subsequent spouse, and she eventually realizes this is not a “time loop” she’s in; time is advancing as she works her way through her possible spouses. Some of the husbands are tolerable, some attractive, some complete “no’s” (who wants to spend a lifetime with someone who likes to nestle the tip of their nose in the corner of your closed eye?). Gramazio’s often comedic fantasy rom-com proceeds from an unlikely premise, but the plot allows the author to explore current attitudes and approaches to dating and mating from a fresh perspective: Given the infinite variety of people in the world, how can you know “the one” when there may be a better one just around the corner (or descending the attic staircase)? Lauren’s madcap romp with the parade of spouses takes a few serious turns, particularly when one is reluctant to climb back upstairs, but the makings of a comic miniseries are all here.
A fun take on a big question.
