Our Wives Under the Sea

By: Julia Armfield

Narrated by: Annabel Baldwin, Robyn Holdaway

Leah is changed. Months earlier, she left for a routine expedition, only this time her submarine sank to the sea floor. When she finally surfaces and returns home, her wife Miri knows that something is wrong. Barely eating and lost in her thoughts, Leah rotates between rooms in their apartment, running the taps morning and night. As Miri searches for answers, desperate to understand what happened below the water, she must face the possibility that the woman she loves is slipping from her grasp.

©2022 Julia Armfield (P)2022 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Achingly beautiful

I’m at a loss of words trying to describe this book. Equal parts horror and the kind of love story that slowly evolves, it left me wanting more and yet, complete. The characters were alive for me and the storytelling so well done it was hard to put down. The performances by both readers were so well done they felt intimate. I hope to read more by this author.

Cryptic, vague, depressing

While I loved the poetic quality of the prose and how the author explored themes of grief and loss, I was grasping for something concrete. Ended up feeling as dissatisfied as the characters in the book.

beautiful and lyrical

Great storytelling. The readers are terrific. I just wasn’t sure what it was all about in the end.

Masterfully indirect storytelling

I’m a jokingly say there is only a single rule to getting the most out of this remarkable title. You’re gonna need to listen to this twice. There is a lot going on, pun intended, beneath the surface. Additional laps around the field will be rewarded.

Putting the LOVE back in Lovecraft

Such a gorgeous book, and I’m wavering between 4 and 5 stars, as the last 3 chapters were so magical as to bump my opinion up. This isn’t a scary book by any means, just light cosmic horror with a sprinkling of unsettling body horror to really build the dread. Mostly, this is a beautifully wrought love story, and a meditation on grief and loss. It’s a slow burn, for sure, but thankfully short to keep it from dragging. The ending was both aggravating because of what we never learned, yet also intensely satisfying with what little we do learn. The last few moments were just breathtaking and made the whole read worthwhile. The narration was a bit TOO serene, and though the readers had remarkable diction, at times the monotone made it hard for me to stay focused on the story.