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A Multiverse Mystery About Choice
The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
Genre: Magical Realism / Contemporary Fiction
Pages: 352
Rating: ★★★★★
Buy: Bookshop.org
This post contains spoilers.
Book Blurb
An exuberant debut, The Husbands delights in how do we navigate life, love, and choice in a world of never-ending options?
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?
My Thoughts
I went into The Husbands knowing very little about it, and I’m so glad I did because it constantly surprised me.
One of the biggest surprises came almost immediately. I didn’t expect Lauren to cycle through so many husbands by the second chapter, but it actually makes perfect sense. If you suddenly discovered that every trip into your attic produced an entirely new husband, experimentation would probably be the first thing you’d do. Watching her establish the “rules” of this bizarre phenomenon made the premise feel grounded despite how absurd it sounds.
I also found it fascinating that Lauren herself changes with each husband. I expected the house to change to reflect a different life, but I wasn’t expecting details about her own body like the length of her hair to be different, too. That small detail made the mystery so much bigger. I also loved that she figured out the house only changes when she isn’t actively watching it. If she’s looking directly at it, nothing happens. That tiny rule made everything feel almost like some elaborate simulation.
It also didn’t take very long before she encountered an abusive husband. As funny as the premise sounded, this book didn’t ignore the darker possibilities. It was such an interesting (and stressful) problem that she had to figure out how to trick him into the attic just to escape him. That sequence really highlighted how dangerous this magical setup could become.
One consequence I hadn’t considered was realizing that every new husband might mean an entirely different world. In one reality, her niece and nephew might not even exist. That’s terrifying. It’s hard to blame Lauren for continuing to search for a husband she’s actually happy with, especially since she doesn’t seem to have the option of simply returning to being single. I kept wondering if fixing the attic light somehow would reset everything back to her original life, but the novel had other plans.
The more I read, the more my brain started spinning with theories. Is Lauren’s consciousness jumping between universes? Is she replacing another version of herself every time she gets a new husband? Are those previous worlds continuing without her, or do they simply disappear? The book never lets those questions overshadow the story, but they’re fascinating to think about.
This was absolutely not the book I expected it to be. It ended up being so much smarter, stranger, and more emotionally engaging than I anticipated. Honestly, I thought it was insanely good.
*More spoilers ahead*
I was genuinely happy when Lauren finally met someone who understood exactly what she was experiencing. Introducing a husband who had been through the same impossible situation completely changed the dynamic. It was refreshing to have someone she could actually talk to instead of carrying the burden alone. I’m not sure the novel would’ve worked as well if it had simply continued with an endless parade of husbands.
That said, the solution isn’t exactly comforting. They agree to avoid attics and cupboards, but Lauren is still placing an incredible amount of trust in another person. She has no way of knowing he’ll never stumble into an attic again years down the line if life falls apart. That lingering uncertainty made the ending feel realistic despite its fantastical premise.
The ending itself surprised me in the best way. Parts of it lined up with what I had been predicting, but I never imagined things would become so catastrophic before reaching the conclusion. I also loved that the final chapter shifted into the husband’s perspective. After spending the entire novel inside Lauren’s head, seeing everything from another angle was the perfect way to close the story.
Final Thoughts
The Husbands is one of the most creative books I’ve read in a while. What begins as a quirky, high-concept premise slowly transforms into a thoughtful exploration of relationships, identity, regret, and the impossible question of whether there’s ever such a thing as the “perfect” life. It’s funny, unsettling, philosophical, and surprisingly heartfelt all at once. If you enjoy speculative fiction that leaves you questioning every possibility, I can’t recommend this one enough.
If ‘The Husbands’ sounds like your kind of book, consider purchasing it through Bookshop.org and support both independent bookstores and the blog at this same time.
Check out Magical Realism Reviews:
One & Only by Maurene Goo
Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen
The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister
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