Our Wives under the Sea - ComeLibros Club

208 pages

English language

Published Nov. 15, 2022 by Pan Macmillan.

ISBN:: 978-1-5290-1723-6

(1 review)

Miri thinks she has got her wife back, when Leah finally returns after a deep-sea mission that ended in catastrophe. It soon becomes clear, though, that Leah is not the same. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded on the ocean floor, Leah has brought part of it back with her, onto dry land and into their home.

Moving through something that only resembles normal life, Miri comes to realize that the life that they had before might be gone. Though Leah is still there, Miri can feel the woman she loves slipping from her grasp.

Our Wives Under the Sea is the debut novel from Julia Armfield, the critically acclaimed author of salt slow. It’s a story of falling in love, loss, grief, and what life there is in the deep deep sea.

6 editions

V171 reviewed Our Wives under the Sea by Julia Armfield

None

4 stars

Our Wives Under the Sea was an introspective, slow descent into horror and loss. It came up short with both the relationship aspect and the horror aspect, but was still a fascinating, eerie read.

Miri's wife Leah has come back from being under the Sea, and something is wrong. She was supposed to be gone for two weeks on a research expedition to one of the deepest parts of the ocean. But the organization spearheading the expedition called Miri to tell her that there were unforeseen circumstances that has extended the trip.. for six months. But after coming to terms with the idea that Leah is likely dead, all at once she returns. But almost immediately Miri can tell that Leah is off. They can't communicate like they used to. Leah doesn't seem to hear her, and spends most of her time in the bathroom, running the shower or the …

Our Wives Under the Sea was an introspective, slow descent into horror and loss. It came up short with both the relationship aspect and the horror aspect, but was still a fascinating, eerie read.

Miri's wife Leah has come back from being under the Sea, and something is wrong. She was supposed to be gone for two weeks on a research expedition to one of the deepest parts of the ocean. But the organization spearheading the expedition called Miri to tell her that there were unforeseen circumstances that has extended the trip.. for six months. But after coming to terms with the idea that Leah is likely dead, all at once she returns. But almost immediately Miri can tell that Leah is off. They can't communicate like they used to. Leah doesn't seem to hear her, and spends most of her time in the bathroom, running the shower or the faucet. Miri is helpless as she watches Leah descend into something else entirely, never really knowing what happened down there. Leah, on the other hand, can't escape the horrors of what happened at the bottom of the ocean with her two other crew mates. And what followed her back up.

You know, I read Salt Slow before this book, and I can't help but compare them. In many ways, this read very similarly to Salt Slow, just an extended version of one of the stories featured. However, where I didn't like Salt Slow, this excelled, perhaps BECAUSE it was longer.

In some ways this transcends genre, part contemporary fiction, part horror, but not quite either, I ended up abandoning trying to put this in a box. It was creepy, it was claustrophobic, it was tragic and complicated. It didn't give me enough information, but it kept me gripped at the possibility of figuring out what was happening. I was hoping to be scared by this, or deeply disturbed. I wasn't, but I don't mind what this ended up being.