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Husbands & Lovers: A Novel Paperback – Large Print, June 25, 2024

by Beatriz Williams (Author)

8,032 ratings

Goodreads Choice Award nominee

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Two women—separated by decades and continents, and united by an exotic family heirloom—reclaim secrets and lost loves in this sweeping novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Wives.

“My favorite kind of page-turner—unputdownable!”—Martha Hall Kelly, author of The Golden Doves

New England, 2022. Three years ago, single mother Mallory Dunne received the telephone call every parent dreads—her ten-year-old son, Sam, had been airlifted from summer camp with acute poisoning from a toxic death cap mushroom, leaving him fighting for his life. Now, searching for the donor kidney that will give her son a chance for a normal life, Mallory’s forced to confront two harrowing secrets from her past: her mother’s adoption from an infamous Irish orphanage in 1952, and her own all-consuming summer romance fourteen years earlier with her childhood best friend, Monk Adams— one of the world’s most beloved singer-songwriters—a fairy tale cut short by a devastating betrayal.

Cairo, 1951. After suffering tragedy beyond comprehension in the war, Hungarian refugee Hannah Ainsworth has forged a respectable new life for herself—marriage to a wealthy British diplomat with a coveted posting in glamorous Cairo. But a fateful encounter with the enigmatic manager of a hotel bristling with spies leads to a passionate affair that will reawaken Hannah’s longing for everything she once lost. As revolution simmers in the Egyptian streets, a pregnant Hannah finds herself snared in a game of intrigue between two men . . . and an act of sacrifice that will echo down the generations.

Timeless and bittersweet, Husbands & Lovers takes readers on an unforgettable journey of heartbreak and redemption, from the revolutionary fires of midcentury Egypt to the moneyed beaches of contemporary New England. Acclaimed author Beatriz Williams has written a poignant and beautifully voiced novel of deeply human characters entangled by morally complex issues—of privilege, class, and the female experience—inside worlds brought shimmeringly to life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Williams’s work of historical fiction wrapped in a beach read . . . [follows an] engaging, artfully drawn pair of lovers . . . and descriptions of tense postwar Cairo are both commanding and detailed. The conclusion is a soap-worthy cliffhanger, and one that took me by surprise.”—The New York Times

“I loved Husbands & Lovers and devoured it in one delicious gulp. I was so invested in Mallory and Monk. It’s my favorite kind of page-turner—unputdownable!”—Martha Hall Kelly, New York Times bestselling author of The Golden Doves

“In the latest work by historical fiction master storyteller Beatriz Williams, two timelines breathlessly intertwine to form a tale full of passion, hope, and heartbreaking family secrets. As much a poignant and intimate examination of the human heart as a globe-trotting sweep of decades and wide-reaching locales, this one packs the sultry and stunning punch that readers of Williams have come to relish. You will feel the salty ocean air of Winthrop summer nights as you read, as well as the furious white heat of the roiling Cairo streets—and you’ll savor every page of it.”—Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author of The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post

“The masterful Williams spins a story that spans continents and eras, and it takes readers on a page-turning ride encompassing intoxicating youthful romance, forbidden wartime love, betrayal, espionage, life-eroding secrets, and a mother’s boundless love for her child. Reminding us of the interconnectivity of the past and present and the enduring power of love, Husbands & Lovers is stunning.”—Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling co-author of The Personal Librarian

“From sunny Cape Cod beaches to 1950s Cairo, I loved being immersed in the lives and loves of Beatriz Williams’s complex characters. This novel has it all: a single mother with a secret, a passionate affair against the backdrop of World War Two, and a child so wonderful (and in so much danger) that I stayed up until three in the morning to make sure he would survive. This is sweeping, sumptuous, and utterly enthralling.”—Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters

“[A] captivating novel of love and love lost . . . With well-drawn characters and sweeping drama, Williams’ latest is a gripping journey as secrets and hidden desires are exposed.”—Booklist

About the Author

Beatriz Williams is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of nineteen novels, including four novels in collaboration with bestselling authors Karen White and Lauren Willig. She is a graduate of Stanford University with an MBA in finance from Columbia University. Williams has won numerous awards for her novels, which have been translated into more than a dozen languages. She lives near the Connecticut shore with her husband and four children.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Prologue

Mallory

June 2019

Mystic, Connecticut

I kissed Sam goodbye on a Saturday morning toward the end of June, and the call that changed my life came the following Friday afternoon.

Actually, the call came in twice. I’d stepped away from my desk to do some gardening. I remember the tomatoes were growing like crazy that summer, the roses exploding on their bushes. Everything so abundant. Sometimes, when I’m stuck on an idea, I find it helps to walk away for a bit and do something else, something with your hands, something useful, and that knot in your mind will loosen and unwind into the bread dough or the soapsuds or the stacks of folded clothes.

Or the soft, rich loam of a vegetable bed.

It still fills me with terror, to look at that patch of earth and remember how I knelt there, staking the rampant new vines, humming to myself while a new pattern took shape in my head—a trailing creeper in a pristine shade of spring green, not too dark or too light, the color of promise, delicate shoots and leaves curling from the parent vine.

At a few minutes to three, I stood up, dusted my jeans, shucked off my gloves, and went into the house for a glass of water and my sketch pad.

I remember my phone lay on the kitchen counter, because I hadn’t carried it outdoors with me. You know how it is. I meant to step out for a few minutes to pull some weeds, maybe water the tomatoes, breathe some fresh air, but one thing led to another, and it was a beautiful day, eighty degrees and not so humid as it gets later in the summer. A breeze came in from the Mystic River, tinged with brine. Tourists would be swarming the drawbridge for ice cream. Over at the aquarium, kids would be screaming with joy as the belugas hurtled past on the other side of the plexiglass. Anyway, my phone sat alone on the counter, so I picked it up to check for messages and startling news alerts, maybe a little light scrolling, and instead I saw that I’d missed two calls from Camp Winnipesaukee.

You know that feeling. Every parent knows that feeling.

Probably nothing, you think, probably just some missed paperwork or an impulsive, inappropriate exclamation. Maybe a fistfight, God forbid. Kids could get scrappy at that age.

But your body’s not so logical, is it? Your body’s evolved for catastrophe. Your body leaps straight to the worst scenario. Your stomach turns sick, your trembling hand picks up the phone. Your heart cracks against your breastbone.

You swipe the number to call back.

You say, in your voice of fake buoyance, Hi! This is Mallory Dunne. Sam’s mom? You were trying to reach me.

And you hear the tiny silence, the fraction of a sigh as the person on the other end gathers courage for the task before her.

Then the dreaded words:

Mrs. Dunne, I’m afraid I have some difficult news.

I think I must have driven the entire three hours to New Hampshire in a state of shock. Now, don’t panic, I told myself, over and over. This is not really happening. This is just a movie you’re watching, a script you’re acting out. Kind of like the metaverse! Whatever that was.

Not real, anyway.

Not your real son, the love of your life.

I remember how I rinsed out my coffee cup and put it in the dishwasher before I left. I mean, you can’t just leave a cup of coffee on the kitchen counter when you lark off to New Hampshire for God knows how long! I swiped on a little lipstick, even though my hand shook so badly I looked like one of those Instagram people who color over the edges of their lips to make them look bigger. I started to throw a few things in an overnight bag and then thought, What if he dies and I’m not there in time to say goodbye?

I dropped the overnight bag and ran out the door to the car. I made it all the way to Springfield before I realized I wasn’t wearing any shoes, so I had to pull over at a gas station and buy flip-flops. And gas. And three Kind bars and a bottle of water, because I was about to pass out.

He’s not going to die, I told myself. A perfectly healthy boy doesn’t die from eating a bad mushroom.

Unless it’s too late.

Unless said boy ate said mushroom on a dare the day before and didn’t mention this fact because he didn’t want his friends to get in trouble, so he spent the night and the morning in the infirmary with so-called stomach trouble because the nurse had no idea she was dealing with a case of mushroom poisoning.

Unless the damage was already done.

Unless they were keeping him alive only so I could say goodbye and give permission for organ donation.

Could you donate a kid’s organs if he’d ingested a poisonous mushroom?

A Range Rover zoomed past, New York plates. I looked at the speedometer and saw I was going only sixty-four, like it was no hurry, no emergency, don’t want to get a speeding ticket or anything.

I pressed the accelerator.

He’s not going to die, I said aloud.

My shining, beautiful boy.

Who loved to play soccer in the fall and baseball in the spring.

Whose favorite food was s’mores.

Who went boogie-boarding last week with his cousins at his aunt’s house on the Cape and pretended to get attacked by a shark. (Not funny, I told him, after I fished him out of the water.)

Who filled an old jam jar with fireflies the night before he left for camp and told me he figured the lights came from all your ancestors in heaven, keeping watch over you.

I pounded the steering wheel. So where were all the f***ing fireflies yesterday?

Just as I reached White River Junction and turned off the interstate, it started to rain. A couple of fat drops, a couple more, and the next thing you know—monsoon. I turned on the windshield wipers. Three seconds later, I turned them on high. Wildly they pumped across the glass and still I couldn’t see a thing. Sheets cascading before me. Like trying to look through a waterfall.

What happened next is a true story.

I’m tearing down this road through the New Hampshire woods toward the hospital, right? Every second counts. But I can’t see ten feet in front of me. So I’m straining my eyes, not even blinking, and this dark shape flashes into view and whoomph! Smacks into the windshield and the jaws of the wipers.

Probably I scream, I don’t know.

Just a few inches long, this poor creature, this bird. Whisking back and forth, back and forth, feathers everywhere, and I’m crying now, screaming and crying, begging God to free the bird because I can’t pull over, I need to reach my son before he dies.

But the poor thing remains stuck in the wipers, smearing blood across my windshield that the rain washes away. I can’t even tell what kind of bird it is. I just keep on driving, and praying, and crying.

The rain was thinning out as I swerved into the parking lot of the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, where they’d airlifted Sam a little after noon today.

(Later, when I saw that line item on the explanation of benefits notice from Blue Cross, I would get up to pour myself a glass of bourbon.)

But at this point, I wasn’t thinking about how much any of this would cost. Save my son, that was all I cared about. I found a miraculous space near the emergency room and slammed the brakes and got out. A man stood nearby smoking a cigarette. He stared at the bird on the windshield of my old Volvo station wagon, handed down from my sister.

“Is it dead?” I demanded.

He looked at me. I still have the image of him in my head—this young, smart, hardscrabble kid in green scrubs. I remember thinking he might have been a resident or a medical student, by the look of him—a kid who got in the hard way, no fancy private schools, no tutors or pushy parents. Job after school bagging groceries to save up money. He just wanted to be a doctor.

“That’s an owl,” he said. “A baby owl.”

“Is it dead? Just tell me, is it dead?”

“Of course it’s dead,” he said.

At the ER reception, I fumbled out some explanation about summer camp and mushrooms to the nurse on duty. He was used to hysterical parents and interrupted me to ask, in a voice that was neither kind nor unkind, for the patient’s name.

I took a deep breath. “Sam Dunne.”

“Date of birth?”

“May tenth, oh-nine.”

“Relationship to patient?”

“I’m his mother, for God’s sake!”

He tapped away on his computer keyboard, staring at the screen. “Name?”

“My name?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I stared at the part in his hair. Light brown waves. Pink scalp.

The nurse looked up. “Ma’am? Your name?”

Starts with an M, I thought. You can do this.

He waved his hand slowly in front of my face. “Ma’am? Do you need to sit down?”

“Mallory!” I sagged in relief. “Mallory Dunne.”

The nurse turned back to his computer and resumed the tapping. “I’ll need your ID and insurance card, please, Mrs. Dunne.”

“My what?”

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House Large Print; Large type / Large print edition (June 25, 2024)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 544 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593946642
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593946640
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.04 x 1.12 x 9.18 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #166,442 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #242 in Family Saga Fiction
- #391 in Women's Domestic Life Fiction
- #735 in Contemporary Romance (Books)

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Beatriz Williams

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Beatriz Williams is a New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction. A graduate of Stanford University with an MBA in Finance from Columbia University, Beatriz worked as a communications and corporate strategy consultant in New York and London before she turned her attention to writing novels that combine her passion for history with an obsessive devotion to voice and characterization. Beatriz’s books have won numerous awards, have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and appear regularly in bestseller lists around the world.

Born in Seattle, Washington, Beatriz now lives near the Connecticut shore with her husband and four children, where she divides her time between writing and laundry.

Visit her online at www.beatrizwilliams.com, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/authorbeatriz, and on Twitter and Instagram at @authorbeatriz.

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Customers enjoy every letter of this novel, praising its amazing storytelling and dual timeline structure that spans generations. They appreciate the character development and find it a fun read. The language receives mixed reactions - while some find it beautifully written, others note the presence of unnecessary foul language.

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46 customers mention "Story quality"46 positive0 negative

Customers love the story quality of the book, describing it as a class beach read that draws readers into the narrative, with one customer noting it's a page-turner.

"...The book is a page-turner, but I would rather not relate the story – one of tragedy and redemption – other than to say it, principally, involves the..." Read more

"I thought this was a great book. The two timelines were each interesting. The characters were well done...." Read more

"I think I have read all of these books and I’ve enjoyed every single one of them. So glad I found this one...." Read more

"...All good things! The settings are unique, fabulous and interesting...." Read more

25 customers mention "Storyline"18 positive7 negative

Customers enjoy the novel's storyline, particularly its dual timeline structure and love themes, with one customer noting how it cleverly spans through generations.

"...It speaks to many aspects of our lives: the timelessness of love and passion, that we are victims of chance, and that we must live with the..." Read more

"I thought this was a great book. The two timelines were each interesting. The characters were well done...." Read more

"...The middle was a little back and forth and confusing for me at times and felt like the historical fiction aspect here could have used a bit more..." Read more

"...Anytime she publishes a new book, I read it ASAP. I loved Husbands and Lovers and think it ranks in my favorites of Williams’ catalog...." Read more

13 customers mention "Character development"13 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the character development in the book, with one noting the effective use of the male protagonist's point of view.

"...The two timelines were each interesting. The characters were well done. I have loved all the books by Beatriz Williams that I have read." Read more

"...The writing felt more mature and the characters more nuanced and layered compared to her typical heroines. All good things!..." Read more

"...I did enjoy the contemporary setting and the use of the male protagonist’s POV, which also felt new...." Read more

"...Truly loved the characters and the dual storylines of Mallory and Monk and the life of Hannah pre and post WWII and Hannah’s impact to Mallory...." Read more

5 customers mention "Enjoyment"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book enjoyable, with some describing it as fun, and one mentioning it kept them engrossed to the end, while another notes it grabbed them at page one.

"...And fun!" Read more

"...It has everything: romance, affairs, murder, mystery, thrill, adventure, great character development, and it's a story that cleverly spans through..." Read more

"...Great story and characters that kept me engrossed to the end." Read more

"This story grabbed me at page one until the end page. Complex relationships issues of young love, relationships, family obligations,..." Read more

11 customers mention "Language"6 positive5 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the language in the book, with some finding it beautifully written and an easy read, while others criticize the unnecessary foul language.

"...The writing felt more mature and the characters more nuanced and layered compared to her typical heroines. All good things!..." Read more

"...always be at the top of my favorite authors - this one seemed to be too wordy and too detailed." Read more

"...that were jumping back and forth we slow to develop and were very easy to decipher. There was not an exciting twist or unforeseen Chen age of plot...." Read more

"...and places are always interesting, but this book took foul language to a new level for her...." Read more

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Sydney Williams
A story of love and passion, of chance in our lives and of consequences from choices we make
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2024
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Sydney M. Williams
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Husbands & Lovers, Beatriz Williams
July 19, 2024

“It’s important to know where you come from.
It’s a part of you. But it doesn’t have to define you.”
Husbands & Lovers, 2024
Beatriz Williams

Full disclosure: Beatriz is my daughter-in-law, which, in part, explains my interest in this, her latest novel. Nevertheless, in my opinion (biased though it may be), this is her best. There were times when I laughed and, at other times, teared-up. While there are a few scenes that would have made Grace Metalious blush, her descriptions of War-torn Hungary, of Cairo in late 1951 and early ‘52, and of current-day Winthrop Island (aka Fishers Island) would have impressed James Michener. And her surprise ending would have surprised O. Henry.

The book is a page-turner, but I would rather not relate the story – one of tragedy and redemption – other than to say it, principally, involves the lives of two women and the men they loved: The first, Hannah, Hungarian-born in the mid 1920s, experienced unspeakable tragedy during World War 2. When we meet her, she lives in Cairo with her much older British husband, Alistair, who is with the British Foreign Office. There are flashbacks to war-time Hungary. The second, the real heroine of the story, is an early 30s-something single woman, Mallory Dunne, who lives with her thirteen-year-old son Sam in Mystic, Connecticut. A medical emergency necessitates that she trace her son’s DNA.

As in all Beatriz’s books, this novel transports the reader back and forth, in time and in place. In Husbands & Lovers, the reader starts and ends in Mystic. But most of the time is spent on Winthrop Island, the location of two of her earlier books. It is where Mallory had spent a summer fourteen years earlier as a nanny, and a place she still loves: “To go running on Winthrop Island at dawn is about as close to heaven as I can imagine…” But time is also spent in early 1950s Egypt, when Hannah, Mallory’s grandmother, is in her mid-30s, and where the revolution against British imperialism was heating up.

This novel, as is true for all her books, incorporates Beatriz’s knowledge of anthropology and her interest in history. It speaks to many aspects of our lives: the timelessness of love and passion, that we are victims of chance, and that we must live with the consequences of choices we make. Historians provide facts and statistics of people, places and events, but it is the novelist who provides the texture that allows readers to get a better sense of the people who lived in the past. This story takes the reader through a forgotten part of World War II, revolutionary Egypt and current-day Winthrop Island.

I have read all her previous books. There is a lot in this one. It is special.

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KatieMa
Great Book
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2025
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I thought this was a great book. The two timelines were each interesting. The characters were well done. I have loved all the books by Beatriz Williams that I have read.

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Gwen
Surprise ending
Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2025
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I think I have read all of these books and I’ve enjoyed every single one of them. So glad I found this one. Very surprised ending wasn’t expecting it, but it was lovely.

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Kindle Customer
A MUST READ
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2025
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Just do yourself a favor and get this book

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Emily
4.5/5 such a beautiful story!
Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2025
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4.5/5 for the last 100 pages of this book! The middle was a little back and forth and confusing for me at times and felt like the historical fiction aspect here could have used a bit more context. The way the story all came together though was consuming and I could not put this down for last third of the book. Loved the ending ❤️

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Christina16
Spoilers ahead, don’t read if you didn’t read the book…
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2024
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Spoilers ahead…. I don’t know what to say about this book. I am so annoyed, so this will be more venting than a proper review. I am a huge fan of Beatriz Williams and have read all of her books. But lately I can’t say I’ve been enjoying them. I was so excited to read this new one and I just didn’t enjoy it. I will agree with other reviewers the cover has nothing to do with what’s going on in the book (but yes, never judge a book by its cover).

Furthermore, it was just a mess of back and forth timelines and viewpoints. Too many random things happened to the characters that I thought were unnecessary, and honestly, quite unrealistic. Like seriously, I know it’s fiction, but the bad luck these characters had was kinda unbelievable and didn’t add to the story. It just made me frustrated. The whole poison mushroom thing didn’t serve a purpose.

Monk and Mallory were downright cringey. I much preferred Lucien and Hannah, and think their story should have been the book ( but maybe with a happy ending). Not that I know how to write a book (who am I to really criticize), but it seemed that the author had all these thoughts and crammed them ALL into one book. It seemed that the book could have been two, and maybe more enjoyable, so many things are thrown at the reader and nothing fully resolves. Closure is offered to the reader in a few sentences for whatever conflict. I don’t want to ruin the story for others too much so I won’t fully elaborate. But I had so many unanswered questions at the end, which is so frustrating.

The ending was rushed and unrealistic. How can Monk just be okay with what happened between Mallory and his dad (this issue between the dad and Mallory was also just unnecessary. Why, why, why? Was it to check the box for the me too movement?). Why just throw a rape scene at the reader so random and unexpected? Readers need a trigger warning. I don’t think it added to the story, just made things more confusing and weird.

I gave it three stars because I genuinely wanted to know how it ended and I really enjoyed Hannah and Lucien’s love story. Otherwise, 1 star for Monk and Mallory.

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8 people found this helpful

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Carpool Book Club
4.5 Stars!
Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2024
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I love Beatriz Williams and have read almost all of her books. Anytime she publishes a new book, I read it ASAP. I loved Husbands and Lovers and think it ranks in my favorites of Williams’ catalog. But for some reason, it felt like a departure for her (not a negative!). The writing felt more mature and the characters more nuanced and layered compared to her typical heroines. All good things!

The settings are unique, fabulous and interesting. It’s a dual timeline story told in 1950’s Cairo and modern day Long Island. As mentioned the characters are wonderful even if a little exaggerated at times. The love story is sappy but appropriately so!

I highly recommend to all fans of Beatriz Williams as well as anyone who loves a juicy story with historical elements!

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4 people found this helpful

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Patricia C.
Great Storytelling!
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2025
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Had never read her books ! But very good plot ! Going back and forth between two stories in different times !
Could not and did not want to put it down.

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C.R.
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Reviewed in Germany on April 17, 2025
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Ich habe diesen Roman verschlungen. Absolut mitreißend. Die verschiedenen Erzählstränge zwingen förmlich zum Weiterlesen. Absolute Leseempfehlung. Werde nach weiteren Romanen von Beatriz Williams schauen.

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