Husband Material

There are two sides to every story, especially those involving a man and his wife. Since I recently blogged about wives, now comes a view of husbands; even if the tales are sometimes from a woman’s point of view.

The first novel I want to talk about is an example of this. Once again I fell in love with the title, No Girl Needs a Husband Seven Days a Week by Nina Fox. I suppose some husbands would feel the same way about their wives. The three women in this novel all have a need for a man in their life, each for different reasons. As the book description states : “A spouse is fine, as long as he doesn’t screw up the rest of your life”.

Dean Koontz is one of the kings of suspense and horror. In The Husband he shows just how far a person will go to protect his family. Mitch Rafferty gets a phone call stating that his wife has been kidnapped and the ransom is $2 million. The only problem is that he does not have that kind of money. What will he do and how much he will sacrifice to save Holly’s life? Koontz has written a page-turner with this puzzle.

Just like Adam and Eve, the subject of husbands and wives have been around since the beginning of time. A classic novella by Fyodor Dostoevsky The Eternal Husband helps proves this. How is a man to handle a late night knock on his door only to find his lover’s husband on the other side. Does the husband know about the affair? Is he here because of this and if not, why is he here at such a late hour. The psychological duel between the two men creates a riveting story.

Once again the cover got me. The Great Husband Hunt by Laurie Graham is a fictional autobiography of Poppy Minkel-Minton Catchings Merrick. Maybe because I know so little about the Jewish culture I find this subject matter interesting. And like all comedies you have to take what is said with a grain of (kosher) salt. To quote Booklist “...from the sinking of the Titanic to the 1929 stock market crash to the Nazi terrors.....Poppy has always found herself in the thick of things.”So while this is not a book about a husband it is a funny book about the hunt.

No one wants to have The Dangerous Husband but Jane Sharipo writes a novel where danger seems to be ready to strike at any moment . The 40 ‘ish year old narrator is never named but her newly wed husband, Dennis provides most of the action in this black comedy. Dennis is a major klutz “this was the kind of man my husband was: strange, loving, lethal.” Dennis is so accident prone he almost detaches his penis after sitting on a glass table which shatters. It would be one thing if he only harmed himself but his every movement leaves wreckage in his wake. He crushes his wife’s toe with a hot skillet, wrenches her neck, drops her on the floor, breaks her arm by hugging her, etc. She finally has had enough and hires a hit man. So what “accidents” happen next......and to whom. Read the novel to find out.

I am going to end this blog with two quotes that “speak to me”:

“What is a husband? He is one who, with a touch, can bring back the starlight and glow of years long ago. At least he hopes he can-don’t disappoint him” Alan Beck

“A husband is a guy who tells you when you’ve got too much lipstick and helps you with your girdle when your hip stick” Ogden Nash