Member-only story
The Horrors of Hypochondria — Deep As The Ocean
Review of ‘Our Wives Under The Sea’, the slow but haunting tale by Julia Armfield
I do love a good lesbian book all about being a lesbian book, but how refreshing it is to read a book with a lesbian couple where the plot does not revolve — not necessarily — around the couple being gay.
The author, Julia Armfield, is 34 and lives in London with her wife and cat. Interestingly, I am 32 and live in Melbourne with my ‘wife’ and cats. To give in to my competitive spirit, I’d like to say that while I don’t have any book published (or written), I do have one more cat (and an aquarium). So, am I winning?
No life, as we’ll learn inside ‘Our Wives Under The Sea’, can be without fault, so a book might not exist where a fault cannot be found, if you look hard enough. ‘Our Wives’ also seems to have some weaknesses, but believe me when I tell you that for the right reader, it’s difficult to fault this short horror novel.
Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield is a haunting and deeply emotional novel that blends literary fiction with elements of horror and the uncanny. The story follows Miri, who is grappling with the return of her wife, Leah, from a mysterious and disastrous deep-sea expedition. As Leah’s behaviour grows increasingly strange and…
