The Husbands

I absolutely loved her first book, and had high expectations about this one. Although it's very well written and engrossing, all the time all I thought of was “it can't be a version of Stepford wives, can it? she wouldn't do it, right?”... and well, to my dismay, not only I saw exactly that, but also the ending was terrible - I mean, after all the ordeal people went through, she just moved and it was all hunky dory? the villains gave up on her? come on. something is off. And that attempt to a twist with the clicking at the end? oof. could have gone without it.So, basically, the three stars are because I was in a good mood and the narrative was really good. But had I read this one first, I would never pursue a second book by her.

4 stars

Nora is an attorney, a mother, and a wife, and struggling to excel at all three. She increasingly feels taken advantage of by her husband and her work, picking up the slack for the men in her life. When she falls in with a group of women who seem to have it all, she's intrigued. She wants what they have - luxury, free time, and husbands who actually help around the house. As she gets to know the neighbourhood more, she realises things aren't quite as perfect as they seem.

This book, like Baker's The Whisper Network is hard to review as while it's fun and gripping, it's also so real and frustrating. Baker's insightful commentary on the modern female experience really resonated with me and surely will with other women - we want more than the 1950s housewife narrative, but now we're expected to do that and still have a career. Things are better for women, but also worse.

A slowburn at first, the final third of the book is exhilarating and gripping. Domestic noir meets science fiction, The Husbands left me dying to read more of Baker's works.

Thank you to the author, Little Brown Book Group UK, and Netgalley for this ARC.