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My Husband and Other Rats

'The best sort of British comic writing' Pandora Sykes

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My Husband and Other Rats

By: Shelley Klein
Narrated by: Julie Maisey
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About this listen

 '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 ©2026 Shelley Klein (P)2026 Orion Publishing Group Limited Family Life Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Women's Fiction Funny Witty Marriage

Critic reviews

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)
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)
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)
A very human read, mixing real despair with laugh-out-loud moments. (Zoe West)
Fabulous. (Sara Lawrence)
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.
All stars
Most relevant
I got this after an interview on Radio 4 with the author. I enjoy psychotherapist talking about their work, but this was not that.

I think it was alright, I was entertained. I feel like an opportunity for a more nuanced conversation about therapists, illness and infidelity would have been interesting. It’s written in the voice of a character with the confidence of a woman who knows what she likes due to age and privilege, but sometimes … it just felt like a vacuum. I wish we had found out more about some characters to give it more depth.

I was entertained but it was a bit flat for me.

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Whilst it did bring a few laughs, I didn’t find it as entertaining as I’d hoped.

Disappointing

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