Mrs. Caliban

By: Rachel Ingalls

Narrated by: Amy Landon

Length: 3 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

It all starts with the radio. Dorothy's husband, Fred, has left for work, and she is at the kitchen sink washing the dishes, listening to classical music. Suddenly, the music fades out and a soft, close, dreamy voice says, "Don't worry, Dorothy."

A couple weeks later, there is a special interruption in regular programming. The announcer warns all listeners of an escaped sea monster. Giant, spotted, and froglike, the beast - who was captured six months earlier by a team of scientists - is said to possess incredible strength and to be considered extremely dangerous.

That afternoon, the seven-foot-tall lizard man walks through Dorothy's kitchen door. She is frightened at first, but there is something attractive about the monster. The two begin a tender, clandestine affair, and no one, not even Dorothy's husband or her best friend, seems to notice.

Selected by the British Book Marketing Council as one of the greatest American novels since World War II, Mrs. Caliban, much like Guillermo del Toro's film The Shape of Water, uses an interspecies romance to explores issues of passion and loneliness, love and loss - and in its own wryly subversive way, it blends surrealism, satire, and a strong female perspective.

©1983 Rachel Ingalls (P)2018 Tantor

Fascinating story

A woman meets a “monster” taken from the sea by scientists and hides him, and yet the story is focused on how people interact each other, their resentments, their cruelty, their loyalties, their kindness. Not at all what I expected from just the distilled plot. Highly recommend.

Unexpected In All Ways

Many books I read are based on reviews from Goodreads, NYT, NPR, etc. Mrs. Caliban was mentioned as an aside in one of those book reviews, and I picked it up on a whim, almost as a dare to see how this story would be told. I couldn't stop listening; it was that good.

The Best Beach Read of 2023

Definitely not the standard Hamptons/Cape Cod summer schlock. Unique, inventive novella published in 1983 reflects the spirit of its age. Stands alone in its own category.

Could’ve been great

So boring the reader felt like A.I. trying to tell a meaningful story but fell so short. The ending seems so out of place and uncharacteristic, and the rest of the book drags. I wish it had more spice bc at least that would’ve made this worth the read. Love the concept but hated what I got.

Boring

The story centers on Dorothy and her romance with a frog man. Problem is, Dorothy is so incredibly dull that the plot and pace feel like walking in sand. Part of that is the misogynistic situation of the 1950s, but even so, good feminist literature usually has smart or insightful things to say. This doesn't. Or literature set in the 1950s or a similar era could comment on race and integration and politics. This barely does. So what you're left with is (admittedly smooth) prose about next to nothing. The best parts of the book are the first and last chapter, but everything else drags badly. I definitely don't recommend this.

Not Classic Literature

Trashy story of trashy lives with a few uninteresting exotics thrown in. Improbable chase scene barely registers - rather like the voice of the reader. Bad.