Two women—separated by decades and continents, and united by a mysterious family heirloom—discover second chances at love in this sweeping novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Wives.
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.
(view spoiler)[I like it so far. I'm not sure of the connection between Hannah and Mallory yet.
I can't imagine being Mallory and getting that call about you son being airlifted to a hospital. OMG! I felt so bad for her. Who ever heard of a "toxic death cap mushroom"? Well, I have now. lol
I love Blue and Chippy and I really like Monk too.
And Hannah, I hate that she's in a loveless marriage or so it seems. She married in for the wrong reasons. No wonder she's so taken in by Lucien. I can understand how she is where she is, but I wish that she'd get out of her marriage and not cheat on Alistair. (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[I wonder what Hannah will do about Lucien's disclosure that he is in love with her. She still doesn't love Alistair and she does deserve true love. I'm curious to see what happens.
And now that Monk is back what will Mallory do? Will she make sure he knows about Sam? Is he the father because I missed that part somewhere. lol I think he still is in love with her, so I guess we'll see. She's in love still but she's being stubborn. I think if he's Sam's son she definitely HAS to tell him and introduce them. (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[I'm glad that Mallory is at least allowing Monk and Sam to know each other some.
Hannah's story has gotten me emotionally. How horrific to be Jewish and go through what she did...just awful! I don't like to get political, but it does worry me how there seems to be so many Jew-haters and the protests against the Jews recently. Ugh...
I hope that Hannah finds out that her son is OK, but from what I have read of the Nazi's and the Holocaust, I fear for her son who was taken or murdered. (hide spoiler)]
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.