The Husbands by Chandler Baker
A 5⭐️ Book Review
I love a good neighborhood storyline. In a perfectly luxurious enclave of suburban households, there’s always something amiss. Add a few devious housewives, and I’m hooked.
That’s probably why I flew through The Husbands by Chandler Baker. This is my second book by Ms. Baker, as I read and loved Whisper Network a few years ago.
Nora isn’t a particularly likable protagonist. She’s a bit needy and has somewhat of a victim mentality, but those flaws are realistic and are valuable to the plot. She clearly loves her husband Hayden, but she resents that he is rarely an active participant in their daily family life. When she and Hayden take a trip to see a potential new house in the idyllic Dynasty Ranch subdivision, Nora sets her sights not just on the perfect new upgrade to their living conditions, but also an upgrade to their marriage.
“Every home in Dynasty Ranch has neat lawns. Every home is sixty-three feet apart. Every home is a model home, perfect, a promise of domestic bliss. The American Dream. The white picket fence.”
The perfect model homes come with a price tag, but be that Nora thinks she’s willing to pay, but as she digs deeper into the lives of her newfound friends – The Real Housewives of Dynasty Ranch – she discovers that what she thought she’d be paying is so much more.
The Husbands is Stepford Wives turned on it’s head, with husbands who willingly bare the same amount of household duties as their overworked wives; with husbands who remember kids’ play dates, lunch money, and class parties; with husbands who revere their wives and welcome you into their homes with fresh-pressed juice and five-course meals. But is that the husband Nora really wants?
I loved this book! It hits all the high points of a domestic thriller with complex relationships, seemingly idyllic lifestyles, and a battle for control. It’s a slow burn novel, one that immersed me into Nora’s life. On the heels of her brilliant Whisper Network, Chandler Baker has written another twisty novel that pits expectations against reality, friend against friend, and women against men.
Bookish Brain 