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My Husband and Other Rats
- Author
- Shelley Klein
- Narrator
- Julie Maisey
- Publisher
- Orion
- Publish Date
- 19 February 2026
- Run Time
- 9 hours 27 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
'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 Marian Keyes
When the full catalogue of miseries that can be visited on a middle-aged woman are happening simultaneously to Alison Solomon (marriage break-up, the worry of an aging mother and a diagnosis of cancer), everybody tells her she should talk to someone.
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
Critics Review
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Dizzyingly good . . . Hilarious and heart-wrenching, as discussions veer from the mundane to the absurd . . . Fabulous
DAILY MAIL
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An absolute gem: a vivid, witty and moving novel about Alison, a fortysomething journalist navigating the abrupt departure of her husband for the twentysomething Fanny Hooker, a rat infestation, a possible ghost, a mother with dementia and, to top it all off, a cancer diagnosis. It should be gloomy, but in Klein's hands it is anything but. Supported by a cast of brisk and brilliant friends, this is British comic writing at its best
SUNDAY TIMES
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Funny, trenchant and moving, MY HUSBAND AND OTHER RATS brings a breath of fresh air to the mid-life crisis
Julia Samuel, psychotherapist and Sunday Times bestselling author
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A cheating husband, a cancer diagnosis, a large rat appearing in the kitchen: these don't sound like the ingredients for a book that makes you laugh out loud. In Shelley Klein's hands, though, no disaster is too terrible to be spun into comedy gold. My Husband and Other Rats is at once engagingly frank, piercingly sad and utterly hilarious. There won't be a funnier book in 2026
Cressida Connolly
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The best sort of British comic writing, except instead of Keep Calm and Carry On, it's Keep Rats and Carry On. A truthful, tender and very funny exploration of all the heavy stuff - mid-life, cancer, grief, infertility, ratbag husbands - with the lightest of touches. Alison Solomon is my new hero
Pandora Sykes
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A very human read, mixing real despair with laugh-out-loud moments
WOMAN & HOME
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A funny and quietly heartbreaking novel . . . There are laugh-out-loud moments alongside real despair as she battles her chaotic thoughts. A particularly human read
WOMAN'S WEEKLY
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Shelley Klein
- Narrator
- Julie Maisey
- Duration
- 9 hours 27 minutes
- Release Date
- 19 February 2026
- ISBN
- 9781399632034
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Orion
- Genre
- Fiction: literary and general non-genre, Humour, Therapy and therapeutics
Synopsis
'DIZZYINGLY GOOD . . . HILARIOUS AND HEART-WARMING, AS IT VEERS FROM THE MUNDANE TO THE ABSURD' DAILY MAIL'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 Marian Keyes When the full catalogue of miseries that can be visited on a middle-aged woman are happening simultaneously to Alison Solomon (marriage break-up, the worry of an aging mother and a diagnosis of cancer), everybody tells her she should talk to someone. 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
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