The only thing more painful than a sudden broken heart is losing someone slowly, watching them leave you an inch at a time. The agony of the slow death can become so relentless that you dull yourself to any feeling at all. And that is my happy summary of this novel.
Our Wives Under the Sea was nothing like I expected, and I learned a few lessons. One: do some actual research before I buy a book. Two: allow a story to just be what it is and enjoy the ride.
I picked this one up on a recommendation. My pal thought it would be a great comp to a book I recently finished writing. So naturally, I approached it with a load of expectation. I quickly came to understand that this was nothing like my novel but an utterly heartbreaking story of love, loss, and duty.
The novel follows Leah (a marine biologist) and Miri (her wife) as they navigate their relationship after Leah returns from an underwater expedition that went horribly wrong.
Leah had been selected to go on a three-week deep-sea research dive. As the submarine plummeted, the crew experienced some unexplained issues and were lost for six months. Miri and the other surviving family members began to lose hope of ever seeing their loved ones again, and the grieving process began.
Then, miraculously, the crew returned, and Miri was overjoyed, but it did not last. Something was off. Leah was different, and it became clear that she would never be the same. Some things are impossible to come back from, and the ripple effects on those Leah loved were horribly cruel.
The author does a beautiful job of shifting character perspectives and timelines to tell this tormenting tale. She paints a clear picture of both women’s experiences and draws the reader closer with every chapter.
I found myself anxious waiting to see what would happen to Leah at the bottom of the sea and realized I was reading a classic gothic trope—just this time the remote house of madness was under the water. The rot and decay were in the watery depths, and the threat of lurking monsters was all around them.
I hope you give this book a try—and go into it with a more open mind than I did.
Happy reading.