Nora Spangler is trying to have it all. She’s an attorney, trying to make partner by putting in the hours and doing the work. She has a husband, Hayden, and a 4-year-old daughter, Liv, and she’s pregnant with another baby. It’s a good life.
But Nora is exhausted. She’s the one expected to take care of their home. Sure, Hayden chips in and helps when he’s asked, but Nora is tired of having to ask. Why is it always up to her to pack the lunches, finish the laundry, clean the kitchen, and keep up with all the paperwork for Liv’s school? She wants to have a true partner, not just someone who pats himself on the back for doing more than his father did.
Then Nora finds out about a house for sale. It’s in the exclusive Dynasty Ranch, is a good price, and it offers more space than they currently have. And when Nora starts to meet some of the neighbors, she finds them very friendly. And successful! The women she meets include a CEO of a tech company, a doctor, a bestselling writer, and a successful therapist. And then when Nora meets their husbands, she’s floored. They help take care of the house without having to be asked. They watch the kids, feed them a nutritious dinner, and get them ready for bed without nagging.
Then she meets Penny. Penny is a writer, and she’s staying with another of the families because of the fire that had gutted her house. Fortunately, she had been out that night. Sadly, her husband Richard had not been so lucky. Now the women of Dynasty Ranch want Nora to take on his wrongful death case, so that Penny can have some closure. Nora isn’t sure at first, as she’s not one to argue in court, but it would look good for her to bring in her own case, so she decides to look into it.
But as she looks into the possible causes of the fire, and takes a deeper look at her marriage and her desire for Hayden to feel more responsible for the unseen work of running a household, Nora finds herself caught between the ideal life she imagines for them in Dynasty Ranch and the disturbing details she finds out about the night of the fire. She finds herself needing to decide just how much she’s willing to sacrifice to get the life that she—that all wives and mothers—dream about.
The Husbands is the sophomore novel from Chandler Baker, who brought us the feminist thriller Whisper Network. Still fighting for women to have a voice, Baker has turned her focus to the home and asks readers just how much they sacrifice for their families. With brutal honesty and a sly intelligence, she has crafted a story that digs into that decorative pillow aphorism “Every working woman needs a wife.”
I was fascinated by The Husbands. The story pulled me in little by little, keeping me wanting more. And when I finally got to the end, when all the secrets were laid bare and I understood everything, I was absolutely stunned. This is a mother of a book, and women everywhere (and hopefully men too) will want to dive all the way in. If you’re in a book club, pick this book to read. If you’re not in a book club, then start one just to talk about this book with all your friends. It’s that good.
Egalleys for The Husbands were provided by Flatiron Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.
