The Husbands by Chandler Baker is a gripping and absorbing novel that is a perfect fit for readers who enjoy a mix of mystery, thriller, and social commentary, particularly those interested in exploring themes of feminism, gender roles, and the complexities of modern marriage and relationships.

The Husbands was a quasi-reverse Stepford Wives and had some twisty fun moments throughout. I really felt like I could be in Nora’s shoes throughout the book. The promise of the next thing, the roles of husbands and wives especially during the baby phases. The tired that a mom and a pregnant mom feel all of the time. Wishing your spouse would just listen and do a little bit more but at what cost would you want that. Definitely a recommendation to read.

I love this book but to be fair I love everything that Chandler Baker has written! Nothing really to add other than that I have enjoyed this author's books immensely and hope to continue to do so

“Because she, in fact, does not want to die in a fire. But sometimes (meaning at all times, obviously) she feels as if there are no spare folds of her brain in which to cram the minutiae of their lives that she’s been charged with tracking.” This quote perfectly articulates what I feel like living with my brain.

I think that this book was a nice blend of domestic drama while also being a sprinkle of thrilling twists towards the end. To be honest I found myself empathizing a lot with Nora, but her husband is quite literally my idea of a nightmare husband so there was a couple points where I was hoping he would either kick the bucket or Nora would kick him out. I am a firm believer that husbands should be partners not bonus kids so I am a bit more no nonsense, but I thought this was overall an entertaining take on the matter.

I enjoyed Chandler Baker's "Whisper Network" a great deal, and unfortunately I didn't enjoy this one as much -- but I find I do like Baker's style. She writes about women in a certain phase of life -- some years into marriage, usually with kids -- very realistically, and I enjoyed the twists and turns of this sort of "Stepford Wives"-inspired story.

This is the second Chandler Baker book for me and I just can't get there with this author and I don't know why. I feel like we don't really jive (and that's ok!) Will I still give her next book a chance? Absolutely! I felt like this book was reallllllly slow to start but then the ending was SO over the top it just felt a bit disconnected. I really related to some of the things mentioned in the book about the invisible load of motherhood and the differences in being a mother and father

Nora Spangler is a litigator on the partner track with a daughter in preschool and another baby on the way. She also has her husband, Hayden, a man she loves and who genuinely wants to be helpful.

But Hayden’s efforts pale in comparison to the husbands of Dynasty Ranch. The upscale Austin suburb where the Spanglers consider buying a home overflows with husbands who excel domestically. Dynasty Ranch men remember teacher gifts and Marie Kondo the house closets. Their favorite refrain about their high-powered, professional wives: “She works so hard.”

“To me, the husbands are doing things that women do all the time. They really shouldn't be that strange,” Austin author Chandler Baker explained in a phone interview of her newest thriller, “The Husbands” (Flatiron Books, $26.99). She launches the book Aug. 3 virtually at BookPeople.

“The reader is adding their built-in social narrative,” she said. “A lot of these things could be quite benign.”

“The Husbands” is a novel scaffolded on the well-documented challenges women face when they transition into parenthood. It’s also a mystery – there’s been a fire that claimed one of the husbands, and Nora’s hired as the lawyer for his widow – infused with the quotidian details and emotional labor most mothers juggle in their heads.

Baker’s delicious twist inverts the Stepford Wives trope. Instead of ‘70s-era men squelching their wives’ empowerment, these modern husbands embrace the home front so that women can focus on their professions. As befits the genre, these partnerships progress to something far more diabolical.

“I liked the idea of trying to take the Stepford scheme and actually justify it,” Baker said.

And what exhausted mother of young ones can’t identify with the desire to have a mate who also anticipates and meets their family’s needs?

“Their problems are all so utterly mundane,” Nora laments of her marriage in one chapter, as she waits for her daughter to doze off. “Before she got married, she worried whether they could handle things like an affair or cancer. And now she wonders whether her reaction would be any stronger and more furious if her husband were sleeping with another woman than if he asked her again where they kept the extra paper towels.”

“The Husbands,” which also explores the value and pitfalls of grown-up friendships, is already set for an MGM adaptation starring Kristen Wiig. Baker is writing the screenplay in addition to serving as an executive producer. The format swap is a bit of a challenge, she said, since the film version is more streamlined than the novel: “It’s a game of subtraction.”

Seeds of “The Husbands” began on tour for 2019’s “Whisper Network,” her adult debut novel that delved into workplace harassment. The book was a New York Times bestseller and Reese’s Book Club pick. As Baker talked with women about reforming corporate culture, discussion after discussion also veered into the challenges of balancing home, work and parenting duties.

“My point, and my personal worldview, is that we just want it to be 50-50,” Baker said. “What I was trying to get with the narrative in Dynasty Ranch is that the women were still involved with their kids, and the men weren’t doing things that were so far out there or crazy. It seems crazy to us because it is divorced from our current reality.”

A sharp, clever take on The Stepford Wives that I really enjoyed--and think would make a great movie! The novel presents marriage and motherhood as being forced into conflict with career, a dichotomy (straight) men are not presented with. Though I have quibbles about how the book ignores how class plays into this dynamic (countless women make the main female character's life far easier than it would have been otherwise--though this is barely acknowledged), I appreciated the ruthlessness with which Baker attacks the systemic injustice in modern marriage and career, and the morally murky decisions the book's characters make to deal with this injustice.

Fun read that’s hard to put down: satisfying thriller and makes you think beyond just the story. Great book club choice!

Although this seems like a reverse Stepford Wives, it does have a point of a woman's life is both work and home. This book is a quick easy read, but somewhat frenetic to makes it point and the book kind of could not make up its mind of what genre the book is. Is it an action adventure, is it a psychological drama, is it science fiction, or is i and t just wishful thinking? (I could use a husband that helps around the house and cooks!) I think the author had a point to make, I just don't know if this book made it.

This wasn't a great read for me, a little lackluster compared to The Whisper Network. WIll probably make better TV than novel,

This was a really fun, culty read. I think it had the right elements building up to the ending. Things came together pretty quickly at the end but the author's note at the end was so interesting and really made things come together so well. I flew through it wanting to put together the pieces of the puzzle that I figured out. It's a little Stepford Wives-y but very fun.

Meh. Perhaps THE HUSBANDS by Chandler Baker would be better served to be The Stepford Husbands.
Nora is a hardworking attorney; her husband Hayden works too. Nora does much more than her share of the housework, childcare and daily planning of living while pregnant. A common theme in many homes which will make this book appeal to many. Apparently there is a better way in Dynasty Ranch a community Nora and Hayden are introduced to.
There are amusing passages but for the most part the book falls flat. It’s predictable and a story older than time.

Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to read this one because I changed my kindle email address and forgot to update it on Netgalley, so it never arrived to my device. *facepalm*

I really wanted to like this book. I enjoyed the author's earlier book.

I definitely found the main character very relatable at first. I think most mothers can relate to the feeling of needing to ask their husbands to help out more than they feel that they should have to. I think the husband in the book said some of the very same things my husband has said.

The first half of the story was interesting, if not a bit repetitive on the constant harping on the husband not doing enough. But once it started to be revealed what was "Really happening" I found the story to be completely unbelievable, yet predictable, if that even makes sense. As much as I liked the MC at the beginning, by the end I found myself not caring at all what happened to her.

Chandler Baker, the New York Times bestselling author of WHISPER NETWORK, returns with another scintillating thriller with a feminist edge. THE HUSBANDS combines the horror of THE STEPFORD WIVES with the thrills of the best contemporary murder mysteries.

Nora Spangler is a successful attorney with a full workload. Already tasked with assisting a higher-up at her firm, she is also up for partner this year. Nothing takes greater precedence than her billable hours and the need to find a client of her own to help her rack up her numbers and prove to the firm that she can do exactly what she already has been doing for years. It’s a bit of a rat race, sure, but Nora knows that proving herself and earning partner will finally free her from her no-days-off mantra and, hopefully, get her the vacation she needs.

But being a lawyer isn’t Nora’s only full-time job. She is the mother of a well-behaved but still tantrum-throwing toddler and is carrying a second child. Her husband, Hayden, also works full-time and constantly assures her that they run the household 50/50, a real progressive division of duties and responsibilities. But if that’s true --- and Nora desperately wants it to be so --- why is she always the one leaving work for pick-up, hiring the babysitters, doing the laundry, cleaning the house and yelling for Hayden, often with a screaming kid clasped to her leg?

Like many women, Nora has found herself fed up with working the “second shift,” while her husband praises himself for bathing their toddler once a week or putting his dirty clothes in the hamper almost every day. With the bulge in her stomach growing by the day and the thought of once again realigning her household tasks, Nora is understandably stressed. To make matters worse, she and Hayden are searching for a new home, which is yet another full-time job.

When they visit the exclusive suburban neighborhood of Dynasty Ranch, Nora is immediately taken in by the houses with their playrooms and expansive kitchens, walk-in pantries and picturesque yards. Hayden isn’t sold yet, but as Nora starts to meet the other couples who live there, she discovers a community full of women like her: well-educated, career-oriented, driven and successful. A tech CEO, a neurosurgeon, a bestselling writer and even a celebrated psychologist, Dynasty Ranch has it all...and then some.

Somehow, some way, these women have cracked the code to making their husbands really shoulder half the work. These men don’t just say they’ll help and don’t just offer to hire a maid service or babysitter. They do it. Not only that, they organize overstuffed hallway closets just because and know how to remove the peskiest of butter stains when a drop of their gourmet-level dinners falls on their pressed pants. But unlike the men in the comments sections of articles about emotional labor, these men seem happy!

It’s no surprise that Nora is drawn to Dynasty Ranch, but Hayden is weirded out by the men and the sorority-like vibe of the women. He likes a powerful woman --- he’s married to Nora, after all --- but he can’t help but notice (and say) that these men need to “grow a pair.” Desperate to make her way into Dynasty Ranch, Nora finds an in when a local woman, Cornelia, asks her to help with a wrongful death suit being filed by another Dynasty woman, Penny. Penny’s house burnt to a crisp with her husband, Richard, in it, and no one is quite sure who to blame. But everyone at Dynasty wants to make sure that Penny is taken care of during her time of grief and suffering.

Sensing a way to ingratiate herself with these women and, even better, to secure her promotion to partner at work, Nora takes a leap and begins to investigate Richard’s death...and finds some surprising inconsistencies.

Chandler Baker is a searingly good writer. She has an innate, cutting ability to take everyday complaints, arguments and inequalities and turn them on their heads, offering razor-sharp explanations, takeaways and solutions in the process. Whereas she addressed inequality in the workplace in WHISPER NETWORK, here she takes her gaze even closer to home by exploring the idea of a progressive marriage, a partnership where everything is 50/50. True, the husbands of today don’t balk at hugging their children and may even do a load of laundry here and there, but Baker wants her readers to closely examine these tasks and ask: How far would I go to make my husband really help the way I need him to? In posing this question and more, Baker presents an insightful and poignant exploration of motherhood, marriage and even the workplace in a thriller that is as gripping and timely as it is fun and compulsively readable.

Unlike WHISPER NETWORK, Baker takes her flair for humor for a trip here. Although THE HUSBANDS is a stark, sobering read, her control of her characters and the situations in which they find themselves turn the book into a bit of a satire, which only serves to drive her point home quicker and harder. The ladies of Dynasty Ranch are sassy, and they read like a gender-swapped STEPFORD WIVES retelling in all the best ways.

Campy, devious and unfailingly relatable, THE HUSBANDS is yet another brilliant feminist thriller from a woman who I hope is nowhere near done poking holes in the patriarchy’s hold over women. Baker is a remarkably cunning writer, and I cannot wait to see which aspect of society she sinks her teeth into next.

Nora and Hayden Spangler are your typical busy family. They both have successful, time-consuming careers and a toddler. And Nora is pregnant again. Nora loves her husband, but she just wishes that he would help more around the house. Nora just wishes that he would see just how exhausted she is. They talk about buying a bigger house. That will make it easier for Nora, right? Dynasty Ranch is the perfect community. The women are all successful working mothers, just like Nora. And all the husbands are doting, supportive spouses who take care of the home while their wives further their careers. Their real estate agent calls on Nora's legal abilities to help a recent widow in the neighborhood. And as she digs further into the cause of death, she realizes Dynasty Ranch may not be as perfect as it appears.

The Husbands is a new twist on an old book, The Stepford Wives. One thing I don't like about books like The Husbands is the way it plays into stereotypes. Not all men leave their wives to do everything. Not all men prioritize their career over their wife's. Some men don't need extreme measures in order to be good men. Hayden's behavior clearly frustrated Nora and I understand why. The fact there was an HOA approval was my first warning flag that Dynasty Ranch was not what it appeared. There is a reason I will never buy a home with an active HOA. Nothing about the end surprised me. Even the last sentence was predictable. CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS.


Bottom Line - If you aren't familiar with The Stepford Wives, I can see where The Husbands would be an innovative story. However, I found it annoyingly predictable.

Details:
The Husbands by Chandler Baker
On Instagram
Pages: 352
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: 8/3/2021
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for a review.

What if the genders were reversed in The Stepford Wives?

That's the main premise of The Husbands by Chandler. We meet Nora Spangler, a woman who seemingly has it all but still struggles to keep it together while her husband sails through life without a care.

As the two of them look at a house in a curated and exclusive neighborhood in Austin, TX it becomes obvious that something is happening with the husbands in the neighborhood. In contrast to Nora's own husband, these men are dialed into their families, taking on much of the mental load of their households while their impressive wives succeed in other areas.

With a light (murder?) mystery and a lot of exploration of gender, The Husbands shines a light on the loads that women carry and how we might move forward.

This is such a fun comparison to The Stepford Wives! Highly recommend for anyone who has ever wanted a magic solution to the struggle to balance career and family. I thought it was a lighthearted mystery with a fun ending.

Are you now, or were you ever, a mother with young children? If yes, did you feel that you received the support that you needed from your partner? Did you want not just help but proactive assistance? If you can answer yes to any of these questions, you may well identify with Nora Spangler.

Nora has a four-year-old, is pregnant and it is her year to become (or not) partner in her law firm. She is trying her best but is overwhelmed. Nora loves her husband (she says) but some days is incredibly irritated by him.

So…Nora and Hayden look at a house that is for sale in an upscale community. Interestingly, the husbands there are way more helpful than usual. The women all have these incredibly high powered jobs. What is going on here? Do Nora and Hayden want to live here? Will they?

Also, what about that arson that killed Penny’s husband. Nora is investigating it thinking about a wrongful death suit. Is it that or is it murder?

There are many threads running through this novel. I have seen mixed reviews but I found it to be a book that I enjoyed. Make up your own mind. Give this one a look.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.