My Husband: A Novel

Product Information

Our unnamed Parisian housewife is madly in love with her husband. She even resents the children from taking his attention away from her. She will do anything for him. She orbits him like the earth orbits the sun. She thinks he is the most charismatic and charming man. With vigor and zest she proudly worships the ground he walks on. Yet, she's filled with anxiety that he will leave her someday and that thought is utterly dreadful to her.

One of the most daring, provocative, unnervingly intimate thrillers I’ve read in years. It’s a glass of Sancerre, crisp and cold and dry – and the more you swallow, the more you’ll lose your balance. Few writers besides Ruth Rendell and Patricia Highsmith can evoke domestic unease with such sangfroid; fewer still can make it such delirious fun. My Husband is the novel for any woman with a husband. Or perhaps for any man with a wife. Merveilleux, Mademoiselle Ventura!”— A. J. Finn, #1 NYT bestselling author of The Woman in the Window One of the most daring, provocative, unnervingly intimate thrillers I've read in years. Few writers besides Ruth Rendell and Patricia Highsmith can evoke domestic unease with such sangfroid; fewer still can make it such delirious fun' A. J. Finn, #1 NYT bestselling author of The Woman in the Window WHAT? Reduced to a clementine? How dare he? Clearly she is a peach or a cherry. Obviously, he needs punished. And it’s completely justified because it’s coming from a place of LOVE. Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage meets Ruth Rendell. . . . My Husband possesses a dark, clinical and raspy humor. With a very well done final twist, as unpredictable as it is Machiavellian, you won’t want to read this vaudeville just once." — Le Nouvel Obs Ventura's cleverly constructed, one-sided portrait of a marriage delivers a breathtaking conclusion that is as unexpected as it is deviously brilliant.” - Shelf AwarenessAt forty years old, she has an enviable life: a successful career, stunning looks, a beautiful house in the suburbs, two healthy children, and most importantly, an ideal husband. After fifteen years together, she is still besotted with him. But she's never quite sure that her passion is reciprocated. After all, would a truly infatuated man ever let go of his wife's hand when they're sitting on the couch together? On the outside, she is a loving wife, mother, teacher, and translator, but inside….well, she’s something far different. Irrémédiablement attirée par cette couverture qui présente une sorte de Bree Van De Kamp, j'ai lu ce roman presque d'un coup (en deux jours en réalité), totalement happée par un récit qui n'a absolument rien d'une "irrésistible drôlerie" comme le dit la quatrième de couverture... Clearly, it’s not for everyone with a current average rating on Goodreads of 3.74 but, it is UNIQUE and QUITE UNFORGETTABLE so it’s earning 5 stars from me!

This darkly humorous novel of obsession is psychological fiction at its best. I didn’t guess the answer to the original question or the phenomenal twist! How could *She* explain why she has a solitaire diamond that’s practically identical to the one he gave her the day he proposed? She hides it in the false bottom of her jewelry box. Is this how I sound when I over think everything in my relationship? When I am overly judging our relationship and everything is at an end even when nothing of substance has happened? My Husband became a literary sensation when it was published in France in 2021, selling nearly 100,000 copies and winning the Prix du Premier Roman. In translation – and the translation is excellent – it has already been likened to everything from the novels of Patricia Highsmith to Gone Girl to Fatal Attraction. For anglophone readers, there’s an added satisfaction here: the narrator’s erotically charged mind games and her ability to switch between coldness and unbridled sensuality is all so very, well, French. As relayed by her husband, the adjectives that best describe her are very beautiful, cold, in love, and observant.

Media Reviews

I’ve always found tranquil, partnerships uninteresting. Couples that don’t ever argue come off as inferior, and I’ve always suspected they love each other less. But I’ve also always refused to engage in ordinary squabbles. That my husband doesn’t do the dishes after dinner, or doesn’t know how to iron a shirt is annoying, but those are obstacles I can overcome; on the other hand, I don’t know that I would be able to bear such a banal argument for such trivial a reason”.