The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

Monday, Apr. 13, 2026--San Antonio

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio was named a best book of 2024 by many sites.  I found it very enjoyable to read for the most part with some humorous moments throughout, but it became a bit tedius during the last third of the book.  It's the story of a woman who has delayed marriage and is unsure whether she ever wants to be married.   But one day she returns home and discovers a husband in her home.  Her friends know him, her phone has photos of their marriage, and the phone has texts between them.  Some erratic things seem to be happening in her attic--lights buzzing and brightening, so she sent her husband up to check on it.  He didn't come back.  Instead another husband came down.  In time, she figured out that if she didn't like a new husband, she could create a reset by sending the husband back into the attic.  But not a reset to the old situation; instead, a another new husband would come down.  She spends a year sending husbands back and getting new ones.  Occasionally she gets one she wants to try to see if she wants to keep him, but eventually she changes her mind or a husband she likes goes into the attic on his own for sme reason and is then gone forever.  (Except, as she is often exchanges husbands many times a day before she gets one she wants to allow to stay, she also discovers that occasionally one recycles back.)  Only a few of the husbands are allowed to stay more than 1 night.  Within a week or too, she usually has decided that he must go for one reason or another.  She learns that no one will believe her if she tries to tell them what is happening until one of the husbands becomes frustrated with her and starts climbing back up into the attic without any directions from her.  Confused about how he seems to know that it is the way to escape her, she stops him and he reveals that he is a "traveling" husband who has learned that he can leave any relationship by reentering the place he has arrived.  They realize that it is nice to communicate with someone who understands each other's situation, and they make a plan to try to stay in contact after his departure due to the fact that they have permanent email addresses that don't change and that her phone number never changes although his does.  He can call her from his new "unknown" number each time, and if she needs to reach him before he calls, she can write to his email address.  Anyway, his humor is the best part toward the end of the book because the carousel of husbands becomes rather tedius for both the reader and her (along with my frustration with some rather stupid decisions made by the the woman).  It all comes to a satisfying conclusion.  I gave the book 4 stars out of 5 although I think that the last third deserved a half of a star lower rating.