REVIEW - Husbands & Lovers ebook

 Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams (ebook)

OVERVIEW

Okay, Beatriz Williams is one of my go-to historical authors. I have read about 12-13 of her historical fiction novels. They have all been good and occur in periods that we don't know much about. This one had two dueling timeframes: the 1950s Suez Canal drama in Egypt and a contemporary timeframe which I really enjoyed. The Suez Canal period was extremely fascinating as I knew nothing about what had happened. 

But for the meat of this story. It is about love, war, deception, power, and xenophobia. As always, Beatriz's books are the perfect beach/pool read!! This will be one of her most interesting books historically for me.

OVERALL REVIEW: 4.5 stars

Writing: 4.5 stars

Beatriz always writes so beautifully - descriptive, yet not overly wordy or precious. Plus, she writes in medium-length chapters with many cliffhangers at the very end! It made me crazy, but I loved it! 

Character development: 4.0 stars

There are two main characters - Mallory, two timelines, 2008 and 2022 living in New England; and Hannah, early 1950s in Cairo with flashbacks to Hungary during WWII and the Soviet invasion. I would have loved an earlier timeline for Hannah so we knew more of her backstory. But, my mind is running thinking of all of the possible scenarios for her life between leaving Hungary and arriving in Cairo. 

The secondary characters for Mallory are Monk, Mallory's former boyfriend; Paige, Mallory's sister; and Sam, Mallory's son. For Hannah, they are Lucien, the sketchy hotel manager in Cairo; and Alistair, her diplomat husband. 

The tertiary characters are the general characters for both timelines in multiple locations. Yes, it is a historical novel with a lot of supporting characters!

Storyline:  4.5 stars 

The Mallory storyline is about her son eating a poisonous mushroom (don't eat wild mushrooms, people) and needing a kidney transplant with the story unfolding from there. The Hannah storyline is surviving WWII, surviving the Soviet invasion of Hungary, and being married to an English diplomat stationed in Cairo. Both stories are amazing, very detailed, and addictive to read.  

The main locations are Hungary, Ireland, Cairo, and New England, USA.

Memorable/Informative:  4.5 stars

I loved learning about the building of the Suez Canal and the social implications for Egypt and the countries that built the canal.

Also, the part of the book that focuses on paternity incidents was fascinating to me. It appears that I may have a paternity and a maternal incident in one of my paternal lines. Apparently, it happens more than one would expect and DNA is making it all more real when before it was just hushed-up secrets.  

Book cover: 4.0 stars

Very pretty. 

Book title: 4.5 stars 

So appropriate!

HIGHLY recommend

EBOOK DETAILS

NetGalley ARC (ebook)

Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams

384 pages

Ballantine Books

Release date of 06/25/2024

INFORMATIONAL LINKS

Beatriz Williams

My Goodreads review

Ballantine Books

NetGalley

Happy reading 📚! 

Dorothea 💜