Debut author Holly Gramazio asks “How many husbands does one woman need?” in the aptly named THE HUSBANDS, a wildly inventive work of contemporary fiction in which a simple question becomes a dizzyingly broad array of options, lifelines and futures.

On the night that Lauren returns from her best friend Elena’s hen do (that’s bachelorette party for you American readers), she knows one thing and one thing only: Man, did she have a lot to drink! But not so much that she’d forget an entire relationship, marriage or husband. Yet that’s exactly what she discovers when she arrives at her flat after her big night out to find that it is not only already occupied, but that the man living there seems to think they are married.

The notion is outlandish enough, but every time Lauren attempts to disprove it, she finds only more evidence to the contrary. Her phone’s wallpaper is a selfie of the two of them; she has a long text message thread with the man --- her man, Michael --- and even her friends and sister speak fondly of him. So how did Lauren miss all of this, and where in the world did Michael even come from?

"What a delightful, fresh and clever novel! THE HUSBANDS takes a simple, immediately compelling premise and turns it on its head to ask not what makes the perfect husband, but what makes the happiest, most fulfilled partner."

After the two spend a few hours in cautious matrimony, Lauren faking (well, not totally faking) a terrible hangover to get some distance, she starts to come around to the idea. After all, Michael is tidy and conscientious enough. And if her friends like him, how bad can he be? Unfortunately, Lauren doesn’t have long to wonder. The next day, Michael heads up to the attic to replace a light bulb. When he finally returns, it is not his slim thighs climbing down the ladder, but those of a dazzlingly handsome Turkish man. You guessed it: he’s her husband, too…or at least now.

It’s obvious that something magical has taken over Lauren’s attic, and she sends men back up and down the ladder like she’s throwing darts at the wall. One by one they emerge: white, Black, handsome, ugly, fit, fat, even naked (that one goes right back up, despite the impressive, ahem, hardware he’s sporting). And then Carter descends. American, charming and clearly devoted to her, Carter seems like a husband she can actually keep, even if it means secretly dating him to test him out while he believes they’re happily wed. Of course, he is exactly too good to be true. So when he goes up to the attic to find their wedding albums, that’s the end of that marriage.

Lauren’s next husband, Felix, introduces her to a wildly different lifestyle. The flat --- and its magic, husband-producing attic --- is now being used as an Airbnb, with Lauren and Felix spending most of their time at his country home. Felix is capital-R Rich, the kind of Rich that knows no budget, limit or responsibilities. Still reeling from the loss (breakup?) of Carter, Lauren decides that if you have to mourn a husband, it’s definitely easier to do so in your next husband’s pool, overlooking the orchard. In late-night social media sprees, she discovers that Carter remains in America, happily dating a blonde. During the day, she learns that another former husband (ex-husband?), Jason, not only still exists, but works as her landscaper and gardener. If the men are real, she wonders, how much are they aware of what’s been happening, and how much of their lives is she still controlling unknowingly?

These questions are answered, sort of, when yet another husband, Bohai, descends the ladder. But Bohai doesn’t adopt the same happily married comfort and familiarity of her other husbands, and it’s clear that he’s uncomfortable around her. When Lauren catches him attempting to return to the attic of his own accord, it becomes obvious that she’s not the only one cycling through spouses. Eager for a break, Lauren and Bohai decide to take an intermission from the theater that has become their marriages and just be. But with that peace comes a barrage of questions: Is there a finite end to the attic’s magic? (Not likely, insists Bohai, already staring down a list of 400+ wives and husbands.) And if there isn’t, when should Lauren --- or Bohai, for that matter --- say enough is enough?

It’s easy, if not fun, to identify a single partner’s flaws and strengths. But when you’ve quite literally seen it all, how do you determine which traits are musts and which are deal-breakers? On top of that, as Lauren and Bohai recite their past partners, they realize that while the men and women are all different (save, in Lauren’s case, for an annoyingly ever-present love of the television series “The Mindhunter”), their connections are indeed natural, and each of their spouses is someone they could honestly see themselves falling for.

So are soul mates officially disproved? And what does it say about the versions of Lauren and Bohai that are completely fine marrying slobs, cheaters or evil billionaires? Who, in the end, is Lauren really? To figure herself out, she will have to examine each of her past marriages, husbands, houses and lifestyles to identify the overlaps, the edges of herself that remain firm even with the ever-changing nature of her life, happiness and health.

What a delightful, fresh and clever novel! THE HUSBANDS takes a simple, immediately compelling premise and turns it on its head to ask not what makes the perfect husband, but what makes the happiest, most fulfilled partner. The answer, as it turns out, may not always require 400+ attempts, but it’s not simple either. Gramazio’s conceit here is elevated by the fact that her protagonist is not some lovelorn romantic. She has a successful career that she likes and is good at; she is close to her sister and her sister’s wife and children; she has numerous friends of different sexes and orientations; and, before the appearance of her first husband, the idea of marriage was just that --- an idea. The fact that Lauren is so grounded and stable in her own life lets the husbands act as whimsy rather than solution, while still probing the deeper questions about life, preference and companionship.

Gramazio never provides a solid explanation for the attic or the husbands it produces, but that’s more than okay, because it’s not actually the point. And, as Lauren realizes, regardless of the reason or the explanation behind something, you’ll still always have to make a choice about it. It’s that choice that defines you, not the alchemy that forced you there. This fun, smart and witty novel is perfect for readers of Hannah Sloane's THE FREEDOM CLAUSE, Beth O'Leary's THE NO-SHOW and Chandler Baker’s work.