The Husbands

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This exuberant debut, praised by Gabrielle Zevin as a “time-bending gem,” asks: 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?”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

“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

“Such a brilliant concept. It’s funny and emotional, but also gets to grip with the thorny issues of commitment and romance—and what love really means—in a totally innovative way. The most hilarious, fascinating and revealing novel you will read this year. It’s going to be the bookclub hit of 2024.” —Keith Stuart, author of The Boy Made of Blocks and The Frequency of Us

“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)? . . . the makings of a comic miniseries are all here. A fun take on a big question.” —Kirkus Reviews HOLLY GRAMAZIO is a writer, game designer and curator from Adelaide, currently based in London. She founded the experimental games festival Now Play This, and wrote the script for the award-winning indie video game Dicey Dungeons. Her recent projects include New Rules, a zine collecting essays about play during the pandemic, and a collaboration with artist Lawrence Lek on a game for his exhibition NOX. She’s particularly interested in rules, play, cities, gardens, games that get people acting creatively, stories that buy into a ridiculous premise and then really commit to it, and art that gets people interacting with their surroundings in new ways. The Husbands is her first novel.CA

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