What would you do if your attic kept sending you new husbands? Londoner single woman Lauren opens her attic steps one day....only to have a husband climb down. And then she discovers she can reset her universe-- but keep her own memory intact-- by sending up the husband and have a new one come down. Everyone remembers Lauren, but she doesn't "know" anything about her new life. Lauren careens through universes and husbands, until she realizes...she's bored and unhappy. What then?

Debut novel, The Husbands, by Holly Gramazio explores the anxiety of “am I making the right choice?”, on hyperdrive.

When Lauren returns from a hen do and finds herself face to face with a husband she didn’t know she had, it only gets crazier from there. Lauren meets boring husbands, charming husbands, flat out awful husbands, and more. As the husbands come and go from her attic, some forced, some accidental, this zany tale examines modern love, choice, and destiny.

For fans of Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin.

If this book doesn’t get made into a movie I’ll be very disappointed. I can’t wait to see A-listers popping in and out of the attic.

Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved this book, what a unique and fun premise. Written well and it gets you thinking about your own choices and attic doors? Anyway, highly recommended and I'm still thinking about the story.
Thank you #NetGalley for this ARC!

Hmm where to start, this was a very unique story with the attic of endless husbands. I liked the concept and the message behind the story but it got a little confusing in some parts but I give it a solid 4 stars because I loved all the characters

I have never been so enthralled by a debut author before like I was with The Husbands. The premise was so amazingly original and I loved Lauren. Watching her grow through the story was an incredible journey!

I devoured this snappy debut in a day! While the tone is decidedly lighthearted, Gramazio also gently probes at the nature of love, marriage, friendship, and fate in this zany romp. Bonus points for the London setting—I enjoyed googling all the neighborhoods.

This book was a refreshing surprise. The main character discovers she has a new husband who has appeared out of the blue. Then we follow her adventures with this new husband and a lot more surprises to follow. I love the pure novelty of this story and truly not knowing what direction the plot was going. It was definitely a book I didn't want to put down and I really enjoyed pure originality of the concept. Overall a great story, I was a tad disappointed that the ending seemed a bit abrupt and not quite as satisfying as I expected. Still a fun read you don't want to miss.
Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Husbands was a super cute romcom! I could see this book getting made into a movie. Holly Gramazio is a talented writer!

Part mystery, part rom-com. I really enjoyed this book. Holly Gramazio is a new writer. I look forward to reading more!

The premise could have been gimmicky-- but what's brilliant about this book is its commitment to the bit,to pattern, escalation and improvisation. Truly enjoyable. Reminded me of some of my favorite TV, including Russian Doll and Hang the DJ but was v original.

This was a fun and fast read. It was a really good concept, different husbands come out of her attic until she picks one she wants to stay with.


Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book for my honest opinion

For anyone who loves the “time loop/life loop” sub-genre that has blown up over the last few years. This is a creative take on the concept of “what if?”

My only qualm was that the writing is in third person, which makes it harder for me to relate to characters in fictional stories. So just a heads up for anyone who shares my preference in story perspective! :)

If I had a physical copy of this book I would have finished it in a day, but since it's on my work laptop I spread it over a week - which actually worked out fine, since I had more time to think about what Lauren was doing when she kept sending husbands up into her attic and wonder if she would ever find what she really wanted. Tightly written, dryly funny, and left me with a lot to mull over. I plan on purchasing this both for my work and my personal collection.

Fabulously funny story that kept me excited to read about who was going to come down the attic stairs next!

Lauren, a single girl living in London, comes home from partying with her friends to find a strange man in her house. This man claims to be her husband but Lauren has never been married. When he goes up to the attic to change a lightbulb, a completely different man comes down the ladder. This man not only claims to be her husband also, but her house and life are completely changed. This exchange of husbands happens every time she sends her “husband” up the attic ladder. Lauren decides she will keep sending the unwanted husbands up the ladder until she finds the perfect one. Trouble ensues and lessons are learned.

This was such an enjoyable experience in reading that I cannot wait to recommend to friends when this is released in April of 2024. Thank you Double Day Books and Net Galley for the Advanced Readers Copy. #TheHusbands #NetGalley

A clever commentary on modern dating. This book was hilarious and thoughtful. I would highly recommend.

3.5 stars, maybe 4. An interesting premise - a woman named Lauren comes home one night to her husband, Michael. The only problem is that she isn't married, and has no idea who the man in her flat might be. Just as she is figuring out that she really *is* married, Michael goes up in the attic to change a lightbulb and ... a *different* husband comes back down. Something in the attic changes husbands (but doesn't affect her). She doesn't like the second husband at all, so sends him up in the attic to exchange him for a different husband. And another, and another. She finally finds one she likes - but he hies himself up to the attic and is gone!

I tried to take this a a light 'n fun rom-com with a twist, but I kept coming back to trying to find a deeper meaning on connections and marriage and relationships. Then she gets a husband who also apparently can swap spouses, and they compare notes. He winks in and out of marriages - both wives and husbands, and spanning the globe. Lauren is always in her London flat regardless of the husband. Is that a commentary on men having more choices? Or just a literary device? Who knows.

It was a fun read, but I'm not sure I liked the ending. I didn't hate it, and I don't know what ending would have made it better for me, but I didn't love it. Still, I enjoyed the writing and the characters and look forward to this author writing more.

Please tell me this is on its way to being optioned and turned into a tv series! Scarily possible and creepily realistic this is made for tv, the character development was great for a book with a cast of many. I told the plot to my sig other and now we joke about "checking the attic for something". Applause for a wholly original story that had great readability and a human connection. Would love a follow up from the other side of the "husband' story. Fan fiction in the waiting...

The Husbands is a fun, quirky novel that will amuse readers of both Kevin Wilson and Emily Henry. The premise is hilariously inventive: the protagonist, Lauren, comes home from a friend's home one night to find a strange man there who claims to be her husband. And her husband he is — the photos on her phone, the names on her electricity bills, the testimony of her family and neighbors, and just everything else confirms that she is married to this man she's never seen before. But when he disappears while trying to change a lightbulb in the attic and another man climbs out, and then another, and then another, Lauren realizes that her attic is creating a seemingly endless supply of husbands for her. Her job, then, is to find the one who fits most perfectly into her idea of a good life and to stick with him. Easier said than done...

I was captivated from the very first page: from within the light, easygoing exterior of the plot, The Husbands examines the nature of contemporary relationships and decision-making. A magic attic may seem like an absurd thing, like something out of a video game (n.b. the author is a game designer by profession), but it really isn't all that different from the reality dating shows so many people love to binge or from the array of dating apps that we spend so much time swiping through — and this book very, very subtly puts across how that may be. Gramazio's writing balanced perfectly between commercial and literary fiction, allowing her to seamlessly inject her humorous narrative with clear-eyed observations about issues like class, gender, loneliness, and even corporate evil and the brazen state of the rental market, all without losing steam.

A great book to curl up with when you're looking for something easy and unputdownable, that makes you think a little and laugh a lot. I snorted a bunch of times, too, and you'd best believe they were delightful ones.

This was another unique read! I've been reading a lot of those lately!
It was so interesting to read about all the different husbands (even the not so great ones) and I found myself wondering who would come next. I also was super curious to see who she would end up with and what would make the "perfect husband" or does that even exist.
It reminded me a lot of the Midnight Library which is one of my favorite reads, as this book touches on the "what ifs" and the paths not taken, but with romance.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The writing is snappy and easy to read, the pace is good, and the topic is interesting. While I stopped after chapter 1 (2%), I wouldn’t be surprised if this book blew up with book clubs. Certainly an easy three to four stars, with five for the right readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday for the ARC.