The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

Holly Gramazio's debut novel, The Husbands, only came out in April of 2024 but it has gotten a lot of notice since then. It's a New York Times Bestseller, was chosen as April's pick for Read with Jenna's Book Club, and was named one of the best books of 2024 by The Washington Post, NPR, People, and is an Amazon Editors' Pick in the same category. Only a year later it was announced that The Husbands will become an Apple TV+ limited series. We don't have a release date yet, but lead writer and director have been announced and Juno Temple has signed on to the project (I find that to be very exciting). The Husbands deals with light drug use, gun violence, infidelity, blood, vomit, fire, and injury detail in a very lighthearted way.

Lauren Strickland comes home from a night out with friends as they celebrate her best friend Elena's upcoming marriage, and she is very drunk. So when she discovers a strange man inside of her home, she first assumes that she has gone to the wrong door. But no - she soon realizes that this man (whom she has never met) is her husband (judging by the framed pictures of their wedding on the wall). Very confused and not a little bit scared, Lauren isn't even sure what to google. Does WebMD have a post about not remembering you had a husband? But Lauren doesn't have to worry about him for too long, he eventually goes into the attic to retrieve something and comes back down as... a different man. It soon becomes clear that the attic has an unlimited supply of husbands. If one gets stale or is not to Lauren's liking, all she has to do to exchange him is send him back into the attic.

When I first heard about this book, I thought the premise was so fresh and absolutely delightful. And for the most part, I enjoyed it. Lauren is very likeable and relatable. At one point, she sends a husband back into the attic because he chews loudly and I totally get it. It moved quickly and kept me interested most of the time. The writing was pretty good and the different hijinks that Lauren gets into were pretty amusing. The further into the book I got, the more unhinged Lauren got as she realized that the rules didn't have to apply to her any longer, and while those situations were sometimes fun and sometimes anxiety inducing, the story began to lose me a bit. I did really like the ending, I think that it was a great ending for the story, but once the book was done I didn't really feel anything. I didn't find myself talking about it a lot (which I do whether I like a book or hate it) and I didn't think much about it. I just felt kind of meh - I'd finished a book.

I'm giving The Husbands by Holly Gramazio 3.5 stars out of 5. I wish there had been more substance to the story than there was, but it was overall enjoyable. I'll probably check out the series when it comes out, I do think Juno Temple is very funny.

For more from the author, check out www.hollygramazio.net/

Pairs well with chickpea and apricot tagine and splurging and getting the third cheapest wine on the menu.

My favorite quote: "What a perfect job for a husband. Ambitious yet concrete, artistic yet practical, glamorous yet without an industry-wide drug problem." Bonus points if you can guess what the husband's job was.