My Husband and Other Rats: 'The best sort of British comic writing' Pandora Sykes

by Shelley Klein

'THE BEST SORT OF BRITISH COMIC WRITING . . . TRUTHFUL, TENDER AND VERY FUNNY' PANDORA SYKES

An irresistible comic novel centred on the various crises of middle-aged Alison, for fans of Nina Stibbe and Maria Semple

When the full catalogue of miseries that can be visited on a middle-aged woman are happening all at once to Alison Solomon, everybody tells her she should talk to someone. But it's hard, really hard, to find the right therapist.

Meanwhile, there's a ghostly woman hanging around outside her house and - is that a rat in the kitchen?

In My Husband and Other Rats, we follow Alison as she navigates a series of scrapes, crises and therapists, with the help of a hilarious cast of characters including an artisanal rat catcher, a useless cheating husband, long-lost family and wonderfully acerbic friends.

'THERE WON'T BE A FUNNIER BOOK IN 2026' CRESSIDA CONNOLLY

'BRINGS A BREATH OF FRESH AIR TO THE MID-LIFE CRISIS' JULIA SAMUEL

305 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 19, 2026

Reviews

[Rocelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5⭐️ Comparing this man to rats is a grave insult to rats.

[Valentina Veltkamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Katie]

Recommended by “Receipts from the bookshop” for lovers of Nina Kibbe and Catherine Newman

[Georgia Macri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would make a great movie. A very funny romcom in a book.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unexpected 5 star read. - in the sense that I had never heard of this book before and bought it on a whim.

This book grabbed me from the title and when I read the back of it in the bookshop I was instantly laughing.

It covers a lot of serious topics but has a lot of humour woven into it which helps balance it out

[Lucy Skeet · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

Fab fab fab!! Thanks so much to W&N for my copy

[Alessia Veltkamp · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Morgan Holdsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

mrs dalloway if clarissa had jokes and bridget jones diary if bridget had real problems to complain about.

this was surprisingly equal parts hilarious and heartwarming and i was sad to turn the page and see acknowledgements instead of another chapter. looking forward to seeing what klein comes out with next!

[Anna]

DNF 133.

I was initially intrigued by the humour in the writing but over time lost interest in the protagonist and her story of woe. As a happily married woman in her early 40's I figure this one just isn't for me.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s not easy to make a funny book about a woman whose husband leaves her, she gets a cancer diagnosis, and more awful things ensue, but Klein did it with panache.

[Brenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Jo Beynon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read, be a good beach book.

[Onnica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable listen. I enjoyed the humour in this book and the complex, imperfect relationships were also very interesting.