“ She wanted to test her husband. She knew exactly what to do…” Reading this debut novel echoed those words of the Kate Bush song “ Babooshaka”; an unnamed 40 year old woman is so obsessively in love with her husband that she continually fears his infidelity and the end of the marriage. She strives to be the perfect wife but all is not what it seems.
The words suffocation and paranoia feel prevalent and yet there is also a huge sadness if this book reflects the politics of marriage in the 21st century. The reader’s sympathies may sway towards the woman and at certain points there is a fine line between understanding and the sense of insanity / self - destruction -maybe that’s what love creates. The writing in a notebook of offence, punishment and date perceived to have been received by the wife for her husband and the subtle ways in which she pays back his actions his darkly disturbing. Has this world of the insta celebrity and the photo social media perfection of lives created unrealistic goals and desires and has communication in relationships now resulted in couples “ spying “ upon each other. It would have been good to know more about the protagonist’s family background and her parents relationship and how this contributed to her continually sense of questioning and in many ways self- loathing .
This is not an easy read and the epilogue is unexpected… a dark comedy ? Maybe not but a book that will have many book groups or friends talking

"Sometimes I ask myself whether I should feel guilty about going through my husbands things. But I always come to the conclusion that I should not, for one simple reason: I wish he would do the same. I would finally have the proof of his jealousy and the confirmation of his commitment. Unfortunately, I know he doesn't. Unfortunately, my husband trusts me."

My Husband is a dark, delirious and disturbing domestic thriller with a razor sharp edge.

The storytelling is feverish and desperate, starting out with a methodically controlled and thoughtful tone as we’re introduced to our nameless, faceless character as she meticulously oversees all. But as the pages turn we watch it unravel as she becoming increasingly unhinged, erratic and intense. But even with this burning intensity and blisteringly fast pace, the story is quiet, unassuming and delicate — with everything silently revealing itself to us page by page. There is a timeless, almost plotless feel to the narrative, the story moved forwards by subtle, nuanced character development.

Although our wife may seem aloof, too lost in thought. We’re alone in her head so we get very familiar with her to the point it’s sometimes overbearing — with her strange way of seeing the world, her jealousy and entitlement, and the things she notices and the way she justifies her behaviours. Our couple isn’t likeable exactly, but they are entirely compelling.

This book creates a dark domestic thriller, setting a scene of perfect suburban bliss that harshly contrasts with the story. Everything in this story is not as it seems, with secrets, misdirection and manipulation everywhere leaving us a little lost and questioning everything. The intensity and flair is highly vivid and with rich description despite us never knowing the names or faces of our characters — but leaving this little disconnect just made the curiosity deepen and left us with just enough questions to keep wanting more.

A devilishly dark story of obsession and power that was just entirely impossible to put down.

My Husband by M. Ventura, published by Penguin Random House was originally published in 2021 in France.
I had high expectations and couldn't wait to get my hands on this story. But I just couldn't connect with the story and the characters. Instaed I was counting the words my husband on every page. And there were lots and lots of these. I just couldn't bear it anymore. This is a fail for me.

The unnamed narrator of My Husband, a short French novel in translation, is obsessively in love with her husband and we are completely drawn into her world and her thoughts in this hugely original and compelling novel. The narrator relates in daily detail her obsession with her husband and her indifference to her two young children. It's a very intense read and I felt a sense of foreboding throughout. I read it in two settings and it's a novel that I am sure will stay with me for a long time. I feel bereft now I've finished it and there's no doubt that it will be one of my books of the year. Highly recommended. 4.5 stars.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

The anonymous protagonist “married up” and spends the week fixating on the state of her marriage. She is an English teacher, in France, and also translates book from English to French. While she has two children she resents them as she would prefer to be alone with her husband.

Surprisingly I enjoyed this - the steam of conscious and never knowing where it was going.

Thanks to Netgallery for the ARC

PS I don’t think the cover works for the book

Wow, this is brilliant portrait of a woman subjected to all the cultural pressures of western love discourses and unhinged by her obsessive love for her husband. Actually, there's something more twisted and chilling about the book than that....

Our unnamed female narrator is beautiful, about to turn 40, has come from a lower social class than her husband, is a part-time teacher and translator from French into English, and the mother of two young children. And she is consumed by her husband, monitoring and analysing his every word, gesture and action. It's exhausting for her but deliciously voyeuristic for us as she charts a week in their life, each day characterised by a colour, and tracking her internal monologue with its compulsive swings from joy to self-doubt to cold manipulations.

Beyond the localised paranoia of bourgeois suburban domesticity - is her husband checking out the young waitress? are other married couples as loved-up and professionally successful as they appear? who is going to compliment another women first on her newly-coloured hair or perfect outfit? are her husband's co-workers flirting with him, seducing him? and the constant, is he going to leave? - this is a nuanced meditation on all the discourses and mythologies about erotic love: act cold to seem mysterious, hide your passionate devotion, treat him mean to keep him keen... as well as an exploration of the asymmetry of love (one loves, the other is loved) and the underpinning power relations that operate between the narrator and her husband.

I've seen this compared to Patricia Highsmith but I'd say there's nothing like that amount of plot here, and would see this springing from writers like [author:Celia Fremlin|120087] with their acute antennae to the minute and chilling power shifts in the home. So, for me, this has vague gestures to the psychological 'thriller' but it's far more muted, plotless and internalised than that. There's something too of [book:Forbidden Notebook|75242975] and even a less dense version of Lessing's classic [book:The Golden Notebook|24100] without the external politicised setting. Whatever allegiances the individual reader finds, this is a fantastically crazed narrative with important things to say about the politics of love.