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A review by okiecozyreader
The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This book has the most fun idea - a woman has a magical attic. Every time she sends a husband to the attic, a different one comes down. She tries to figure out why it’s happening and understand how all the husbands are related.
So many husbands. Over 200. There were times I thought it was getting more interesting but it was just exhausting. I think it may have been a better short story.
“All of her husbands are men that some version of herself might have chosen to marry, and who might have chosen to marry her. None of them are going to be radically dissimilar from the husbands who have already visited.” Ch 9
“… she thinks about the cliché of people's sexual tastes, that everyone wants what they don't have in life, the CEOs tied up in expensive boudoirs and mocked by women in difficult boots, the shy bookworm who pounces with eager delight in bed, and she thinks: not always.” Ch 11
“But the pattern always falls apart, and returns to just: men she might have liked, and who might have liked her. Every husband, she's pretty sure, is someone that she might have met, somewhere, somehow, if she'd done things a little differently.
Every husband is someone she might have enjoyed spending time with, and who might have enjoyed spending time with her.
Every husband is someone that she might-if things had been just a little bit different, if she'd gone to a particular party or worn a particular coat or looked in a particular direction— have married. Which is not to say that all of them are men it was necessarily a good idea to marry.” Ch 22
“She doesn't always like the new versions of herself, but they help her understand the edges of who she might be.” Ch 30
So many husbands. Over 200. There were times I thought it was getting more interesting but it was just exhausting. I think it may have been a better short story.
“All of her husbands are men that some version of herself might have chosen to marry, and who might have chosen to marry her. None of them are going to be radically dissimilar from the husbands who have already visited.” Ch 9
“… she thinks about the cliché of people's sexual tastes, that everyone wants what they don't have in life, the CEOs tied up in expensive boudoirs and mocked by women in difficult boots, the shy bookworm who pounces with eager delight in bed, and she thinks: not always.” Ch 11
“But the pattern always falls apart, and returns to just: men she might have liked, and who might have liked her. Every husband, she's pretty sure, is someone that she might have met, somewhere, somehow, if she'd done things a little differently.
Every husband is someone she might have enjoyed spending time with, and who might have enjoyed spending time with her.
Every husband is someone that she might-if things had been just a little bit different, if she'd gone to a particular party or worn a particular coat or looked in a particular direction— have married. Which is not to say that all of them are men it was necessarily a good idea to marry.” Ch 22
“She doesn't always like the new versions of herself, but they help her understand the edges of who she might be.” Ch 30