I love a good dark comedy, it’s always fun to sit back in my chair and read about other people doing bad things and I can live vicariously through them and not get in trouble myself.
Take My Husband is an August 2022 release by MIRA Publishers
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links, see disclosures for more detail.
About the Book:
A witty, insightful domestic comedy about one woman’s unexpected, thought-provoking journey out of her marriage as she realizes how much better off she would be if her husband had not survived a serious car crash.
When Laurel Appelbaum gets a call at work from the local hospital informing her that her unemployed husband Doug has been in a serious car accident, she is in shock. Summoned immediately to his bedside, she doesn’t know in what condition she will find him. As she rushes to the ER, her mind is full of dire thoughts of this abrupt and unpredictbale end to her marriage…that is until she remembers the large life insurance policy they are carrying in his name.
Suddenly Laurel can’t help but imagine what a life on her own might look like…a new little cottage perhaps, the dog she has always wanted but can’t have because of Doug’s allergies, and the money to travel to see their only son. By the time she arrives she is ready to assume the role of grieving widow, only to find Doug sitting on a gurney, annoyed that she has taken so long to come pick him up. All of the tiny assaults on her freedom and dignity that have chipped away at their marriage and her happiness over the years flood in. She realizes now that she is finally ready to journey out of her marriage because the life really at stake is her own. She just has to figure out how to do it.
My Thoughts:
Although this is marketed as a dark comedy, with wife Laurel plotting her husband’s demise so that she can live her life the way she wants, I didn’t feel like it was all that dark overall.
As she is working her job at Trader Joe’s, Laurel receives a phone call that her husband Douglas is unconscious after a car accident. She drives to the hospital, all the while imagining her life without him, collecting the life insurance money, getting a place all to her own with a dog (Doug is allergic). So invested in this fantasy, Laurel is shocked to see Doug up and doing fine. After losing his job, Doug hasn’t had much ambition, in fact, Laurel does pretty much everything for him. But what if he were actually gone?
There are some comedic touches to this book, but I felt like overall it just went on way too long with Laurel doing everything for Doug and not standing up for herself or her wants and desires, she is basically a doormat. The biggest problem I had with this is that I’m nearly the same age as Laurel, they’ve been married for 30 years, I’ve been married for 25, so we’re not dissimilar in life stages. I would never wait on my husband the way she does on hers, I’d never let mine walk all over me and act like a child after I was on my feet all day supporting us. Maybe someone from an earlier generation, but I couldn’t justify it in my mind.
There are some good plot threads woven throughout, and when Laurel finally grows a backbone the book improved for me. Overall, it comes out in a satisfying way in the end, just for me it took much too long to get there and there wasn’t enough comedy to justify the way she allowed herself to be treated for so long. It was an okay read, but not very memorable.
About the Author:
Ellen Meister is the author of several novels including THE ROOFTOP PARTY, LOVE SOLD SEPARATELY, DOROTHY PARKER DRANK HERE; THE OTHER LIFE and others. Ellen is also an editor, book coach, ghostwriter, and frequent contributor to Long Island Woman Magazine. She teaches creative writing at Long Island University Hutton House Lectures and previously at Hofstra University. Her latest novel is TAKE MY HUSBAND. For more info visit ellenmeister.com
SOCIAL LINKS:
Author Website: https://ellenmeister.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellenmeister/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EllenMeister
Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/24843.Ellen_Meister?from_search=true&from_srp=true
