My Husband: A Novel

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In this wry, psychologically complex debut, a meticulously manicured wife is obsessed with her husband. For the past 13 years, she's made a science of meeting his needs, putting them before her own or even their children's. Her love is a stranglehold; something's gotta give. The winner of France's First Novel Prize, this riveting emotional thriller requires serious willpower to not devour in a single sitting' Oprah Daily Sometimes I ask myself whether I should feel guilty about going through my husband's 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." HaperVia editor Gretchen Schmid says she “gasped at the ending.” Reading the book in French on a beach in Marseilles in summer 2021, she turned to her friend and said, “You’ll never guess what just happened!” Many years later, she would return to the country with an adorable child in hand, only to encounter an exact copy of her child. However, this child belonged to the aloof Alexander Duncan, who would become increasingly suspicious at how this woman had shown up out of nowhere with a child bearing his features. Will he put two and two together and re-enter Courtney's life?

Determined to keep their relationship perfect, she meticulously prepares for every encounter they have, always taking care to make her actions seem effortless. She watches him attentively, charting every mistake and punishing him accordingly to help him improve. And she tests him--setting traps to make sure that he still loves her just as much as he did when they first met. 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... Ventura’s first novel explores love’s darker alleyways through the eyes of a 40-year-old Frenchwoman who's obsessed with her husband. 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 The wife cannot even love her own children, because she loves and obsesses over her own husband too much. And this is all happening after 15 years of marriage.

Even though the book is about a woman obsessed with her husband, it's still weirdly feminist in a sense. She openly laments her all-consuming passion and wishes she were more independent, a trait that she tries to pass on to her daughter. She deliberately left a past lover who loved her more for her husband despite knowing that she's agreeing to a permanent power imbalance because she always loves him more, so in a way, she chose this dynamic and that gives her a bit of power, a bit of agency. She also rectifies the power imbalance by punishing her husband when she feels like he's not showing her enough attention, like denying morning cuddles when he doesn't hold her hand during a movie. Obviously, their relationship is unhealthy af and she desperately needs a therapist to deal with her issues, but it's fascinating to see how she claws power for herself in a skewed dynamic that she purposefully chose.

The winner of France's First Novel Prize in 2021, My Husband builds on the premise of hits like Gone Girl and Fates and Furies—how well can you really know your spouse?—and adds the tension and creepy obsession of You. The result is a gripping read that is as fierce as it is funny—compelling, tense, and engaging, infused with sly subversive humor, and told in an utterly original voice that makes it unforgettable.

My Husband is an amazing book that captures the essence of a wife's world revolving around her husband. This relatable story delves into the complexities of marriage and the insecurities that can plague a person's mind. Sometimes I ask myself whether I should feel guilty about going through my husband's 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. She doesn’t feel the need to spend time with friends, her parents or her CHILDREN-she only needs to spend time with her husband. At 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. An unsettling novel about the ultimate unknowability of your spouse and a sure-footed addition to a canon that might include Jane Eyre and Gone Girl . . . Gripping reading.”— Sunday Times (London)

What a wonderfully tense, obsessive, enveloping novel—almost like a feminist, introspective spin on Fatal Attraction! Ventura’s deftly spun debut is a sharply observed dissection of marriage that will haunt you for days.”— Virginia Feito, author of Mrs. March Over analyzing everything that HE says and does, she will punish him in both passive aggressive ways when appropriate, and in ways more unforgivable and I couldn’t help but wonder if she was like this when the two married, or if had perhaps been a slow descent into madness over the fifteen years of their union. She always thinks he’s about to abandon her. “Is my husband canceling our lunch?... Did I get dressed and made-up for nothing? Is he telling me he’s not coming home tonight, that he’s not coming home at all, that he’s leaving me?” Ventura writes, channeling the narrator’s thoughts when she hears the “bing” of an incoming text. In her world, everything must be perfect and she obsesses and over-analyzes every little thing people say, do, or look, most especially her husband. Things come to a head when The Husband tells her they need to talk. This sends her into a downward spiral.A] wry, psychologically complex debut . . . This riveting emotional thriller requires serious willpower to not devour in a single sitting.”— Oprah Daily