Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield | Book Review

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Author & Title: Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

My rating: 4/5

Publication date: 3rd March 2022

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Blurb:

Miri thinks she has got her wife back, when Leah finally returns after a deep sea mission that ended in catastrophe. But It soon becomes clear that Leah may have come back wrong. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded on the ocean floor, Leah has carried part of it with her, onto dry land and into their home.

Memories of what they had before – the jokes they shared, the films they watched, all the small things that made Leah hers – only remind Miri of what she stands to lose. Living in the same space but suddenly separate, Miri comes to realize that the life that they had might be gone.

Review:

I read this book simply because I'd heard a lot about it but I didn't know what to expect.

Miri and Leah are a married couple and we learn that Leah has recently returned from a deep-sea mission on a submersible for work. Whilst away, she and her two colleagues lost contact and were essentially missing under the water for five months.

Leah is now back home with Miri but it isn't the Leah that Miri is used to. Something happened. 

The novel is told from the points of view of Miri in present day and how Leah's return has changed her and how it is affecting her. She reminisces about their old life together. We also have Leah's point of view on the submersible.

This book is absolutely beautiful. The prose is stunning and you have the mix of magic realism (something that I didn't think I liked) and an emotive story. Leah and Miri's relationship was beautiful and you really felt for Miri due to the change in her wife since her return. It is moving, touching and sad. I loved it.