Review: 'The Husbands'by Chandler Baker

 Well, Chandler Baker surely knows how to write a suspense book that keep you on the edge of your seat! I adored reading Whisper Network earlier this year, with its Greek #MeToo chorus, so naturally I wanted to sink my teeth into The Husbands straightaway. Thanks to Little, Brown and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Pub. Date: 8/3/2021
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

Recently, Nora has started to feel that 'having it all' comes with a price, one her husband doesn't seem to be paying quite so heavily. She loves Hayden, but why is it that, however hard men work, their wives always seem to work that little bit harder?

When their house-hunting takes them to an affluent suburban neighbourhood, Nora's eyes are opened to a new world. Here, the wives don't make all the sacrifices. Here, the husbands can remember the kids' schedules, and iron and notice when the house needs dusting.

But when she becomes involved in a wrongful death case involving one of the local residents, Nora begins to suspect that there's a dark secret at the heart of this perfect world.

One that some will kill to protect . . .

Conversations around who carries the emotional load in a family are difficult conversations. Women, usually rightly, feel like they are carrying the majority of that burden, if not all of it, but many modern men rankle at the thought they aren't doing anything. While yes, in comparison to previous generations, men are doing more and more, the mental burden of planning it all out, remembering all the birthdays and events, directing all the various tasks, usually falls on women. And it feels like a double-edged sword, because if you drop that burden others might help. But it also all might come crumbling down around you. These are the difficult cultural conversations around Feminism that cannot get fixed by passing legislation or starting initiatives. Each set of partners needs to sit down and discuss their own responsibilities and roles from the get-go and keep each other accountable. And that is hard, but necessary work. While The Husbands might not provide direct answers to this situation, it does provide the kind of biting sarcasm and humour that can help bring some levity into the situation, at least for the women.

Nora adores her husband, she really does. And he is so kind and supportive now that she is pregnant with their second while trying to become partner at her law firm. And yet... she is working herself to the bone trying to stay on top of everything while he seemingly coasts by, pleased at but not understanding all the effort she puts in. When their house-hunting leads them to a community where the women thrive professionally and the men do their share, it seems too good to be true. And maybe it is. To a certain extent The Husbands is limited by its own story because it is very straightforward. The husbands' behaviour is so marked that the tension of the story doesn't come from "what's wrong here?" but from the question "when will Nora key into it and then what will she do?". It was the latter question I got more and more obsessed with, wondering what I would do in her shoes. As someone who is career-driven, it would be great to have someone who picks up all the slack at home. But if Feminism strives towards equity, then surely just a role reversal isn't the right step? And so you go back and forth, fascinated, amused, exasperated, until the very end. 

I greatly enjoyed Chandler Baker's Whisper Network, in which her legal knowledge shone through and centred the occasionally very Dramatic plot twists. The same counts for The Husbands in which Baker once again proves herself to be an excellent suspense writer. She hits the perfect balance between schlock, drama, high stakes, and justified outrage that fuels the reader throughout her book. The frustration and self-denial that runs through Nora's inner monologue must be very recognizable to many women, which could make The Husbands something of a release valve for their own emotions. Considering how fraught the conversation around the emotional load is, I wonder whether this novel can start conversations or will fortify the trenches that have already built up. Delightfully naughty and sharply incisive, The Husbands was definitely a conversation-starter for me and I'd highly recommend it to anyone up for some fun yet smart suspense!

I give this book...

4 Universes!

The Husbands is a great follow-up to Chandler's Whisper Network. Equally smart and thrilling, Baker continues to impress with her insight and her willingness to up the ante.