Two women in two different eras, struggling to rebuild their lives: a WWII-scarred Hungarian ex-countess now trying to adapt to life as wife to a British diplomat, a modern-day artist molding her every day around a son with damaged kidneys. It was thoroughly captivating, this novel had me totally enthralled!

Williams masterfully crafts scenes that range from thrilling to shocking, with characters you can't help but both love and despise.

Honestly, "Husbands & Lovers" is a must-read. It's got everything — romance, mystery, drama — all wrapped up in a super addictive package. I'm definitely gonna be checking out more of Beatriz Williams's stuff after this!

This was a family drama spanning several generations. Told in two timelines - excellent story of love, loss, family, and forgiveness.

Thank you to netgalley for the arc of this book Husbands & lovers. Wow! What a great story. Dual timeline read of the present day Mallory (Pinks) as her love would call her and her sister Paige and their ancestors. How their mother came to be adopted thank to the help of ancestry DNA and a lot of great research. Mallorys story is one of hardship and love. She raises her son by herself for 13 years and his need for a new kidney pushes her sister into setting up a reunion. After many many things happen they eventually find their way to each other: i could not put this book down. I have read 90 books this year and this one is easily my favorite. Well done! Five stars.

Beatriz Williams will always be one of my auto-buy, must-read authors. With every new release, I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy, and I want to binge it, but I also want to make it last. The true dilemma of a reader…

Every new book is also my favorite. In Husbands & Lovers, as much as I wanted to savor it, there came a point that I just had to know. This one has it all…mystery, romance, heirloom jewelry with a twist. In short, I loved it, and I’m hoping to see these characters again.

Husbands & Lovers was my first read by Beatriz Williams, a gift from the publisher for an honest review.

I am a big fan any book that features historical fiction from the 1920s forward, books featuring strong women characters who can stand on their own, and second coming of age stories. This beautifully written novel wove together all three of these narratives into a captivating story spanning three timelines.

Through Hannah's point of view, we are in 1950's Cairo, Egypt during the unrest between the UK, Soviets, Israel, and Egypt following Hannah's journey to find herself as she heals from great loss. She has married a diplomat and taken a hotel keeper as a lover. The details of the tension of these times are vividly intense, the descriptions of Cairo are picturesque, and Hannah's repeated heartbreak is palpable.

Mallory provides us two points in time - 2008 and 2022.
In 2008, Mallory is a nanny on an island in New England, working for a wealthy family for the summer before heading off to RISD. She falls for a guy and gets mixed up in a lot of family drama.
After the death of Mallory's mother, Mallory and her sister, begin to learn their Grandmother is not who they thought she was. Mallory is balancing the health care needs of her son while helping her sister uncover the mystery of who exactly are their Grandparents building to an arc between Hannah and Mallory full of strong women, complicated family dynamics, the journey to find oneself, heartbreak, and love.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys strong women, recent historical fiction, and a well written story that balances both character development and local descriptions - think Kristen Hannah and Kate Morton.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the advanced digital copy.

This is going to a be a top read of 2024 for me. Told through alternating timelines, we get to see how an heirloom bracelet helps a young woman answer questions about her own family, while at the same time working to ensure her own son will receive a much-needed kidney by opening up about his own parentage.

I could not put this one down. Amazing!

This was my first Beatriz Williams novel, but it definitely won't be my last. Husbands & Lovers is a book aptly about two women, Mallory and Hannah. The book has three timelines, Mallory in 2008 and 2022 and Hannah in 1952. Mallory has a lover, Monk Adams and in 2008 she has plans to run away with him. But something makes her run alone instead. In 2022, they reunited and Monk discovers they have a son and he needs a kidney. Hannah is a hungarian woman, she's actually had multiple husbands and a lover. But she lived in the world during a time of war. While she lost her first husband and their three children, she married again but found a lover to give her a child. Unfortunately, neither Hannah or her lover got to know that child, whom was Mallory's mother.

This book is full of twists, full of love, and full of heartbreak and pain. It was beautiful. I highly recommend and I normally do not enjoy multiple timeline novels.

I have adored Beatriz William's books since I first picked up The Golden Hour. I love the way she intertwines real stories/people and how a lot of her fictional world is connected. Husband's and Lovers is a lot more risqué and explicit than her others but I thought she did a fantastic job of combining historical fiction with a modern-day love story. There were essentially 3 timelines considering that one of them often had flashbacks and it was a little confusing at first. But I slowly got the hang of the rhythm of the book and I was equally invested in each of the stories. The ending was sweet without being over the top. If you love historical fiction with a modern-day connection, you'll enjoy Husbands and Lovers.

Thank you Netgalley & Ballantine Books for the ARC of Husbands & Lovers! It honestly took me a while to get into this one, but I am so happy that I stuck with it! I think Husbands & Lovers is going to be a super popular summer bingeable read. I loved the 2 different timelines, how they started out seemingly completely unrelated and eventually wove their way together. I admittedly felt more engaged in Mallory's timeline as well as the love story between her and Monk, but Hannah's timeline held its weight too. Well done!

The prologue of this book hits like a truck.

It was unexpected; guess I should have read a bit more ahead of time.

Remember the beginning of Up? You know, the sweet kids' movie? With the beginning that makes an adult sob like a broken child?

The prologue of this book hits like that. Like all the air has been sucked from the room. I needed a moment to collect myself (and stop the tears) before moving on.

I love Mallory and Paige. Their banter is possibly the best part of this book.
"It's better than denial."
"Who's in denial?"
"It ain't just a river in Egypt, right?"

And there it is, the other half of the story - Egypt - and layers of family secrets. So many layers. (More tears, obviously.)

Gorgeously written, with depth and feeling.

4.5 stars

I’ll be reading more of her books stat!

▪️ historical fiction
▪️ dual story lines
▪️ college love turned rock star
▪️ second chance romance

And so much more! Just read this one, you won’t be disappointed.

Beatriz Williams never fails to pull the reader right into a story, no matter the time period, no matter the locale, and I love her for it!

Two women in two different times periods are trying to rebuild their lives. One single mother is doing her best to raise her thirteen-year-old son in the era of influencers. Her boy desperately needs a new kidney after one choice mistake and is on dialysis multiple times a week while waiting for a donor. The other is a woman traumatized by her wartime experience looking for a new future with her British diplomat husband in Cairo. Though he isn’t the man of her dreams, he is safe and that’s all she can hope for at this point.

These two women are linked by a mysterious family heirloom that brings up more questions than answers, and even more painful memories. Their relationships with their “husbands and lovers” have defined their paths in life and shaped their personalities for better or worse. Both women are both emotionally fragile because of their trauma, but wear their bravery like armor to the world—protecting themselves from further pain.

This hybrid historical fiction/women’s fiction book was very hard to put down, and as someone who usually likes the “past” timeline in dual timeline novels, I actually enjoyed both very much. The alternating chapters jumping between characters and timelines makes it incredibly challenging to say, “just one more chapter”.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ballatine Books, and of course the author Beatriz Williams for the advanced copy of the book. Husbands & Lovers is out now—get it packed in that beach bag! All opinions are my own.

straight fiction isn't what i usually read, especially when you add historical elements, so this was just okay. well written though and gorgeous cover. i honestly think if i read this physically i would've liked it better.

Sometimes I take a break from historical fiction, but whenever I come back to it, it feels like coming home. That homecoming feeling has its place in Husbands & Lovers. It is in two points of view, but also takes place in alternating timelines. Hannah has a mysterious past that she hides while in Egypt with her English husband in the 1950s, while Mallory's story takes place in 2008 and 2022. Her present day life brings her back to the island where she fell in love, and to the man who stole her heart and gave her the world.

I loved the genealogical aspect to this story, as well as the idea that a second chance exists for us all. This was a lovely book with a lot of heart to it.

Another winner of a multi-timeline book from Beatriz Williams. In the 1950s, it’s the story of Hannah, who is married to an older British man and is with him at his posting in Cairo, but finds herself drawn to the hotel manager - and there are also flashbacks to her life before and during WWII in Hungary. And in the present day, it’s the story of Mallory, single mom to a 13 year old whose father she never told she was pregnant, and is now a famous singer - along with flashbacks to their younger years and their relationships.

So, I have read all of Beatriz Williams’ books and this this was a bit of a departure for her in some ways - very few of her books have modern day storylines, and this is the only one I can think of where the modern day story had more prominence. What it has in common with her other books, however, is giving her characters interesting stories which simultaneously have real stakes, while also being on the lighter side for historical fiction. This also was her third book set on fictional Winthrop Island, and while it definitely can be read on its own, there are some little easter eggs to books The Beach at Summerly and Summer Wives (probably more than I even caught.) An enjoyable read and one I really didn’t want to put down!

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books for this advanced reader's copy. I was really into historical fiction some time back and read a bunch of Beatriz William's books, but I haven't read any in a while, so it was nice to dip back in. This was a fantastic book to go back in with. There is a dual timeline story here which wraps up nicely in the end. Mallory receives a phone call that is needed now as her 10-yr old son, Sam is being airlifted from summer camp after eating a deadly mushroom. Sam is fighting for his life and needs a kidney donor. Mallory now must confront two major secrets from her past- the summer romance with her childhood best friend who is now a famous singer-songwriter, that resulted in the birth of Sam, and her mother's adoption from an Irish orphanage in 1952 and the unique snake bracelet she was given. This book was a tangled web of emotions and how secrets and miscommunication can harm people.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine Books and Beatriz Williams for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of Husbands and Lovers; my review reflects my honest opinion. I enjoyed this book, although I had a difficult time getting into Hannah's story, however ultimately it became a compelling storyline for me. The story illustrates familial strength and love, the power of past loves and the challenges and rewards of caring for a child with special needs. While fiction there are fairly accurate historical incidents well represented throughout the novel. Kudos to Beatriz Williams for a well-crafted and developed read.
3.5 stars.

Wow! I knew going into this book I was already going to love it because of the author, but can I say new favorite? The beautiful writing strung along with multiple points of views, two (maybe three) incredible characters, including one I extremely resonated with, packaged up with mysterious lovers made this book one I started and finished in one sitting. This book kept me thinking during and after its conclusion. I can already see it becoming an instant favorite to so many other reader such as myself.

Beatriz Williams once again reminds us what Historical Fiction should be. Husbands & Lovers is the top read of the summer!

With multiple timelines and POVs, Williams brings us to Cairo in 1951. Hannah Alistair, wife of a diplomat finds herself in a love affair. In 2022 New England, Mallory Dunne is navigating life as a single mother. These women's stories keep you up late reading one more chapter.

Thank you Random House and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Beatriz William’s books are among my favorites so I eagerly began Husbands & Lovers. She wove a tale of a grandmother, Hannah, living in Cairo in the 1950’s and her granddaughter, Mallory, many years later. I was immediately immersed in Mallory’s life and then my heart stopped with the news about her son, Sam. Her dilemma rings so true and I could not put the book down. Her crush on Monk as a teenager and then her relationship with him brought memories flooding back to an earlier time in my own life. I have to admit to predicting what ended their relationship. I frequently found myself in the “what if” state, thinking about the situations Mallory found herself in. So loved her interactions with Lee, especially when she defended Grace. I felt so very at home with the gorgeous setting of New England beaches, as I grew up summering on Cape Cod and Maine beaches.
When Hannah transported the story to Cairo in the 1950’s I was intrigued by the way she dealt with her sorry excuse of a husband. No wonder her head was turned by Lucien. Loved learning a bit about Cairo and the political unrest of that time frame. With the addition of spies…fascinating for sure.
The beautiful bracelet became the tie that bonded Hannah and Mallory and brought the two storylines together so seamlessly. This fabulous read was so very enjoyable and I highly recommend it.
Many many thanks to Beatriz Williams, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read an arc of this just published incredible read.