I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting when I opened this book but thus surpassed it. To say it tackles a very dark subject with domestic violence it is really well put across in a humorous way.

The novel is set during covid lockdown. Sally is married to Jim and they are both under the beady eye of their neighbour Enid who seems to be the self appointed enforcer of lockdown rules Sally has long had a tempestuous relationship with Jim who has taken every opportunity to ridicule and undermine Sally. He's also submitted her to violent attacks but always in such a way that the bruises etc can easily be covered up. She has always tried to hide the difficulties from her two children in order to protect them. One day, Sally snaps and in response to Jim's latest attack she fights back. I don't want to say more about the plot so I don't spoil it for other readers. Suffice to say, this book is a brilliant read and fulfills the authors intentions to highlight the prevalence of domestic violence using dark humour. Well worth reading. A difficult subject, sensitively handled.

4.5 stars

It’s the start of the Covid pandemic and the country is in lockdown with the strict enforcement of rules and with Sally‘s next door neighbour Edwina keeping a beady open for any infractions. Sally is married to Jim and she realises early in their marriage that he is a mediocre man with resentment seeping from his very pores. After twenty years of violence, of telling herself that it’s her fault, that they’re accidents but now that the children have left home and it’s lockdown, she’s stuck inside with him alone for many hours a day and so she fights back and how. Then there’s Samira, whose abusive husband Yafir is arranging a marriage for their elder daughter Leila against her will and so Samira determines to do something to keep Leila safe. Then there is Ruth and Lionel, she wants to help utilise her much needed nursing skills in the pandemic and he definitely doesn’t. Finally, there is a very tired mother and as for her husband, I’m sure you can guess. The story is told principally by Sally but also by the other three women so you get to understand them and their dire domestic situations.

First of all, I really admire the authors purpose in writing this book and she sure has all the credentials. I hope she achieves her ends by using humour to get her points across and in my opinion, she does. Yes, it’s a novel that has its roots in domestic violence which as we all know, reaches crisis point in lockdown but equally it’s a novel about friendship, some forged of necessity, one which is lapsed and one that is a real surprise. It’s also about family and the bonds between mother and children, which is clear to see with Samira and Leila, but also with Sally‘s children and I love how her son sends her a song of the day to show he cares. This is cleverly done as they seem to match or highlight situations and are often darkly amusing.

The characterisation is very good, each has their own defined personality and my favourite, much to my surprise, turns out to be Edwina, although obviously you root for all of these women.

Whilst the issue is obviously a serious one, the novel is genuinely funny at times, obviously darkly so but it does make me guffaw and hoot with laughter from time to time. Go ladies! Although all the storylines are very good, the very tired mother is emotional, moving and scary but I also like the different cultural aspects of the storyline too via Samira especially but also with Ruth. It’s a very well written novel and Covid lockdown is used most effectively in highlighting what women like these four have to face. Along the journey to the end there are some good twists, there’s tension and suspense, one real jaw dropper and a whoops and a sort of surprise that probably isn’t right at the end, but the image of that will stay with me forever! Kudos to the author.

Overall, it’s a very readable book that highlights a dreadful reality but does so in a light-hearted way which engages but also drives the points across very effectively. It demonstrates that survival is possible with the help of friends. It’s poignant, sad, but darkly funny.

*The authors foreword and notes at the end are well worth reading.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin General UK for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ARC!

How to Bury Your Husband deals with domestic violence during the lockdown, the book deals with such serious issues very well. The writing uses themes of dark humour/content.

This book is a story of survivorship

I enjoyed this book, it was heartbreaking and at times humorous, albeit with dark humour.

I'm not sure what I anticipated when I picked this book up but it wasn't this! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a bit mad and eccentric, I mean of course the possibility of something like this happening is absolutely zero, however it was fun to read and also shed a light on the increase in domestic violence that occurred during the lockdown. It is poignant in that sense and was hard to read in places but overall this is a great book.

I dnf this book. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy the writing style but am sure a lot of other people would be more invested than I was.

A lighthearted page turner despite the dark themes, would definitely read more by this author!

Main themes: murder, domestic violence, friendship, family

Twist right at the end - did not see it coming

Dark content with the husbands, but superb dark comedy.
Really enjoyed this, wouldn’t hesitate to read another book by this author.

Read this book on holiday and loved every minute of it , mostly lighthearted with a slight dark side on how to get away with the murder of your husband , but only if he deserves it 😂. All the husbands in this book did they were mean and unsupportive.
I will definitely look out for other books by this author , I like the style of writing .

this reminded me a lot of 'how to kill your family (also four stars),' as it had a similar sense of dark humour and the mystery / thriller element too. i really liked this, more than i thought i was going to, and found myself rooting for the characters from the beginning. although i more or less guessed the twist towards the end of the book, i was still happy to see my suspicions confirmed (iykyk!). i would happily read a sequel to this - i need to know the events that follow!

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

Domestic violence (in and out of lockdown) isn’t the most obvious choice for a book but Alexia Casale knows her stuff and I think this may be a novel that sadly many can understand and enjoy.

I think the humour was good but there were moments that were still uncomfortable to me, add to that a rather unbelievable plot, this wasn’t for me. But this will be an important book for many.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the arc of The best way to bury your husband by Alexia Casale.

Superbly written if not a bit difficult to read in parts (content) I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this title.

In lockdown four women are suffering more than their usual share of domestic abuse. All four reach breaking point and kill their husbands, leaving them with the difficult task of getting rid of the bodies.

You have to seriously suspend disbelief in this enjoyable read. The author has worked with victims of domestic abuse and clearly knows her stuff. The book is funny in parts and heartrending in others.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The minute I saw this book I thought I would love it and I absolutely did, a superb story, well paced and well plotted.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC for this.

This book grapples with a really serious issue- domestic violence during COVID. So firstly, well done to Casale for highlighting this topic that deserves more coverage. I found sections of this really hard to read sometimes, as it hit home for some parts, which goes to show the accuracy in which Casale covers this.

In terms of the story and the elements themselves, there are some things that I didn't necessarily enjoy. Whilst the message of this story is important, I don't believe it was well executed.

The main characters felt somewhat sloppily put together with limited character development. Sally, (understandably as the protagonist), is the most built up character, whilst the others felt remarkably underwhelming and weak, particularly Janey. The history of their friendship is poorly structured and not explored enough to understand Sally and Janeys relationship. Samira, Ruth and Leila aren't particularly interesting or strong characters either. I feel a lot of this falls on the dialogue of all the characters- what they say does not feel believable of a real life conversation at all. There's a mix of British and American slang which isn't fitting for the setting of an English town. The way that Sally pursues the others to join the 'Burial Club' is hardly believable- this is definitely not how this would ever be approached in reality, and yet everything just seems to fall into place somehow. I would say that yes, whilst this isn't the whole point of the story, it is the foundations of all the women coming together and it's not executed well.

The writing plays at themes of dark humour. To me, this felt very reminiscent of Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club, by way of using British culture as part of the comedy/dark humour. However, I felt that the comedic relief really missed the mark, again, I think this is due to the poor character development and somewhat unusual dialogue.

The most moving part of the book was Sally's conversation with her children about her relationship with her husband/their father.

Overall, this book is fine, but the lack of connection with the characters didn't have me feeling any type of way. The reason why I was rooting for the women, wasn't because I liked their characters or anything, but because I want these women, whose roles in society as dutiful wives, mothers and punching bags, to be free of the patriarchy.

Absolutely amazing book !!!! Gets straight to the point and every character you can actually sympathise with and have the understanding of why they had to do what they did!!

Firstly, a huge thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to review this book in the form of an e-Advanced Reader's Copy. Please note this book covers topics of domestic violence, and my review will most likely feature some spoilers.

This book follows the 'Lockdown Ladies' Burial Club' - comprised of a group of women who have been physically, mentally, and emotionally abused by their husbands. Sally Baldwin, a stay-at-home Mum (not by her choice), is facing COVID lockdown with her husband - Jim - who physically abuses her in horrific ways including pouring boiling kettle water over her skin, among many others. Eventually, in self-defence, she fights back using her Grandmother's cooking implement; facing her now dead husband's body on the floor, Sally begins to plan how to reclaim her freedom, and her life. Sally must navigate hiding the death from her children and her elderly, nosy neighbour, Edwina.

Janey - Sally's childhood best friend - has just given birth to her first child, Ava, at aged 42; she too kills her husband in self-defence. In addition, Samira protects her daughter, Leila, from facing the prospects of an impending forced marriage to a stranger (male) after it is revealed that Leila has been dating a fellow female pupil at school, she poisons her husband. Ruth, an ex-nurse, met her husband as a single Mum, his violence has been escalating over the years until it culminates in an accident on the stairs.

Spanning cultures, religions, and ethnicities, these women are bonded by their shared survivorship, and of course, the murder of their partners. This book is a fantastic read, I flew through the pages and could not wait to see how the women got out of their predicament/covered up the deaths. The decision-making process behind covering up the murders, rather than contacting the police, is explicitly thought out and completely plausible.

I absolutely adored this book, heart-breaking, at times humorous and light-hearted, this truly is a tale of survivorship and bonding between complete strangers over something that should never have been allowed to happen. Set in the context of COVID lockdowns in the UK, I found this story to be extremely well thought-out and thoroughly enjoyable. I will be purchasing this book for the domestic abuse survivors in my life.

This book deals with domestic abuse, specifically domestic abuse during lockdown, and was quite hard to read at times. It goes from serious subjects to dark humour that makes you laugh out loud at times. You have great sympathy and empathy for the main characters.

I did find the fact that they kept saying they couldn't break the lockdown rules quite tedious, I get that they're the rules but you're burying the husbands you killed, I think normal protocol goes out the window! I did also guess the 'surprise' at the end.

Overall a good read but be aware of the trigger warnings. 3.5 rounded up to a 4.

Overall a very fun, darkly humourous thriller set in the dark days of Covid lockdowns. The author's notes really give gravitas to the overall story and add great depth to what could be an enjoyable, if fairly dark, suburban crime melodrama. The characters are well written and, although I spotted it coming, the final twist was good fun and entertaining to watch play-out.
This novel will no doubt have it's controversies - cheering on a group of murderers is certainly an unusual feeling, and the descriptions of domestic violence and abuse can be difficult subjects for many. However, the wry humour and high-camp moments are just-removed-enough from reality for it to be a satisfyingly dark read.

Based on the fact that most DV victims are women, this novel has an underlying message that was profound and really hit home. The scale of abuse that was hidden during the lockdowns of the covid pandemic was really rather frightening - so to have a humorous take on this dark statistic is a great way to bring greater prominence to the topic that is rarely discussed in this way.

The main character Sally finds herself in an unplanned situation. It was highly coincidental that 3 other local women had similar outcomes from their own DV incidents, but it brought home the similarities between their horrendous situations.

Absorbing, well-written and ultimately tinged with sadness that people are being treated so badly by the very people who are supposed to love them. A poignant yet warm and amusing tale of four women who become friends in the most unusual of circumstances.

An excellent thought provoking read, which I would highly recommend. 5*

Thank you to Net Galley, Penguin UK and Alexia Casale for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review- all opinions stated are entirely my own!

Per my 5 star rating, I loved this book! Extremely well-written with just the right kind of dry humour which had me giggling to myself throughout the book. Honestly I don’t have the words to describe just how well Alexia Casale’s writing just FLOWS- the pages flew by and the characters felt so real and inspired a genuine care for them.

Other than the humour and excellent writing, I would honestly say my favourite part of the book was the story of how these women came together and formed such strong beautiful friendships. Girls support girls and we love to see it! The instances of domestic abuse are extremely well handled in the book, though of course due to the subject matter these areas may still be quite difficult for some to read.

Though some may be put off by the Lockdown setting, I really felt this was well-handled by the author. Despite it being such a tough time, we also can’t forget the more bizarre aspects of Lockdown (the pasta, flour and egg shortages for example) which you can look back on in amused disbelief. I often found myself laughing at the mention of these.

Overall, I throughly enjoyed this book and actually see myself purchasing a physical copy once it’s released!