In the spirit of The Midnight Library, Holly Gramazio has created a story about what it means—both for the world around you and your sense of self—to choose an alternate life. In The Husbands, Lauren returns home from work one day to find out that her attic has been turned into a portal for husbands. Despite having been single when she left the house, she is now married to a man named Michael. If she sends him into the attic, he is replaced by a new husband. And that one can be replaced the same way.

As Lauren cycles through her endless string of husbands, she begins to realize all of the ways that her life remains the same regardless of what she chooses, as well as the ways it becomes different. Being thrown into a new life of domesticity with someone you’ve never met poses its challenges, but as it becomes increasingly clear that there’s no end in sight, Lauren sets her sights on using the attic to find the man of her dreams.

I must admit, I wasn’t certain whether or not Gramazio would be able to pull off such an ambitious plot. It seemed like the type of tale that would make a good short story but could drag at full length. I’m pleased to say that I was completely wrong! While according to other reviews this may have dragged towards the latter half for people reading the physical copy, I was enthralled by my audiobook version and couldn’t wait to see what came next.

Part of why this worked for me is that I was content to live in the day to day of Lauren’s life. We were entirely within her own head, and as a result we got very little backstory on who she was before these husbands started coming into her life. If this is something that frustrates you, or if you need more concrete motivations for every decision a character makes, you’re probably going to half qualms about this book. For me, I appreciated the fact that we lived entirely within Lauren’s head. While I wish we could have gone even more in-depth during a few of the husbands, I still felt connected to Lauren and understood her emotions even though I don’t think we had anything in common.

This book was silly and light. It’s the perfect beach read for people who, like Lauren, want to find a husband and live a coupled life. As someone who does not believe in a partner being the primary focus of someone’s life, I had to force myself into this mindset initially. Once I did it paid off and I was able to enjoy the book for what it was. If you’re looking for a unique plot structure with magical realism and aren’t all that concerned with where a book is going throughout, this is the read for you.

Find the Book: Goodreads | StoryGraph | Bookshop

Thank you to Libro.fm for providing me with a free audio copy of this book.