Our Wives Under The Sea is a modern gothic masterpiece; a blend of queer romance and Lovecraftian horror. ***** Patreon: / booksandbao Website: booksandbao.com/
I forgot to really emphasise the claustrophobia of this novel. The way in which Leah is crushed by the physical space she's trapped in and Miri is also crushed by the emotional weight of her situation. That's what makes this so gothic. It also explains the title: Leah is literally under the sea while Miri feels like she is emotionally drowning. I love this book so much 💜
Finished this book a couple of hours ago and imediatly tried to get other readers review because I couldn't put in words what I was feeling. What a book! Thanks for your video! Amazing way to explain it ❤
My partner died of cancer and I can only confirm the book completely and accurately depicts this sort of situation. I cost me a lot of re-living tears but I loved the book, also because it‘s written brilliantly.
ordered this through my local bookstore (support your local libraries and book shops, everyone!), and I read this in one sitting yesterday night, and it was... amazing. I was surprised at the pacing of the story, and fell so hard in love with the language, the characters, and juust everything!
I just finished our wives under the sea and I absolutely loved it❤ So far I've only read amazing books this year and this one is somehow still a stand out! I really enjoyed your review however, I do disagree with your reading of Leah being "the good one" and Miri being "the bad one". I think we experience Leah mainly through the eyes of her grieving lover and therefore in a better light. And we experience Miri, mainly, through her own perspective and she is not afraid to be honest about how she feels, even if she doesn't like what's on her mind. Miri's feelings towards loss strike me as very human and natrual, especially because Leah seems to have been her main support system. To me, Miri is a deeply traumatized person, who has a hard time expressing herself but she often scolds herself for that and feels guilty about her failings. I also enjoyed the section, where Miri read the comments of the support group for people, who had missing family members and how they echoed Miri's feelings and anxieties, proving that she's not alone with or horrible for many of her thoughts and emotions. And in the end she let's Leah go in a final act of love. Regarding Leah, I think she is also traumatized by her upbring but copes with it through being a caretaker to others. However, when it mattered most she decided to stay under water, fully disregarding Matteo, who was scared and craved returning to the surface. To me this was the most selfish decision of any character in the entire novel. I think they are both flawed and human and despite all of that they remain loveable, which is one of the many reasons this book is so wonderful.
"Most gothic fiction is queer...even if...it doesn't have any queer characters". So true it is kind of hilarious! I couldn't decide if I would like this book based on the Goodreads reviews, but THIS review definitely has me intrigued. (Though given that I'm also a biologist, and the brain-damage/trauma kind of loss of self really scares me...it might be a tough read!)
Right? I'd love to do an essay or a video one day on the queerness of gothic fiction (although there must be hundreds already!) The loss of self stuff isn't too heavy and it does lead somewhere kind of... bittersweet? But as I said, I'm a hypochondriac so all of it got to me a bit lol
Also my favorite book of the year so far. This is one I could spend hours pouring over re-reading to find all of the little things and hidden meanings and metaphors I missed the first time. In the back of my head I always knew where we were going, and I was just amazed at how we got there. And can we talk about this cover??
At first I didn't like this book, but then I couldn't stop thinking about it and realized I actually really liked it and a day after finishing it I started to read it again. I wonder if the Leah bits are actually made up by Miri and Lead died either immediately after or during the expedition? Maybe she's making up the story to come to terms with the death and the therapist bits are really just her at therapy alone. I also thought it was interesting that the only friend she hangs out with in person cannot see well. So she's less likely to figure out that Miri is making things up? I don't know. It was just so beautiful and their relationship was so touching. I loved the "Tour de France! Tour de France!" leg pedaling thing Leah would do to Miri to cheer her up. So sweet. Also one of my favorites for the year.
So pumped for this! Your videos are always such a joy to watch and your thoughtful, multi-faceted reviews enrich my experience of the titles you recommend.
Wow thank you so much! That's a doubly kind comment when I don't actually write any notes for my videos. I keep them all up in my skull and then just blurt them out to the camera lol
Sounds superb; love the sound of how the writer made the psychological discomfort palpable and the complexity of the relationship real. Also love your enthusiasm in recommending it :)
I just finished reading this and feeling so emotional! What a book! I can relate to Leah so closely that is scary. One thing I was trying to put into words and you didi brilliantly was that Miri was selfish when she never introduced Leah to her mother. Thanks for the insights Willow
I noticed the Leah plot especially bears resemblance to H.P. Lovecraft's The Temple. Like, quit a bit. I wonder if that was an intentional inspiration? She even references him (on page 44 the book passingly mentions that Matteo has a Cthulhu bobblehead.)
I just finished this book, thanks to your recommendation, and absolutely loved it! So thank you very much!! A truly wonderful book. I’m a big fan of your channel, your book choices and reviews are superb.
I just posted a very short discussion of how this book works so well when read alongside a new poetry book ("Unexhausted Time" by Emily Berry). Perhaps you might like this poetry book as well? I'm aware that this may look like a shameless plug for my channel, but honestly it isn't... I'm simply curious about what you might think, seeing as you mentioned poetry recently. Warm regards, Eleanor.
This has been at the top of my list and hearing you talk about it has me wanting to buy it instead of waiting for my library to maybe pick it up, it sounds flawless wow
finally got a copy of this from my library and feel consumed by it, most of my TBR pile are recommendations from your channel so i was excited to hear your thoughts once i finished it!! reading "salt slow" now and just really love this author's voice
I finished this last week and just binged a bunch of your videos after finding this one. I love this book BUT i also read Tell Me I’m Worthless last year and it was definitely in my top 5 of the year. We seem to have similar taste and ahh I’m so happy i found your channel
Hahaha this is all wonderful news! I saw Julia Armfield at a talk in London with Alison Rumfitt last week and the two were electric! I beg you to read Tell Me I'm Worthless asap!
You are such a brilliant and beautifully-minded reviewer! Wowwwww. I am subbing and clicking that notification bell! 🥰😇 Loved this book but was also perplexed after closing the book. Perhaps because I rushed into it. I needed time to process it. You helped me do so. THANK YOU!
Having read Tell Me I'm Worthless first, when diving into this I wondered when we would hear from the submarine! Just found the channel and im vibing with all the books that you've reviewed, looking forward to finding even more!
Me versus missing the point: was it the sea creature that was the voice jelka heard? was matteo right that the centre did this to them on purpose? it felt tEEWW perfect that they had so much extra food and it happened so soon after they went down. also, was definitely expecting this to go down in the way of yellowjackets, whoops! especially with the focus on the smell of meat.
Thanks for the recommendation- just ordered her first book 😬 Also,tempted to try ' tell me I'm. Worthless' might be a bit scary for me ! I think you will enjoy 'her body and other parties' 🤩
I don’t know if you are into reading diaries of writers… But for me, the book of 2022 is Patricia Highsmith, Her diaries and notebooks. What a woman! What a life! What a book!
Love your videos but I’ve realised if I unsubscribe I will probably save a fortune in books 🤣 yeah I’m still not unsubbing. Also your hairs on point today, mine certainly needs some love.
I love Salt Slow so I'll enjoy this too! Right now my favorite gothic book of this year is Tripping Arcadia by Kit Mayquist. Gothic novels are the best 💚
I’m reading through this now and enjoying it very much. I know this isn’t the best forum for unpacking such a loaded question. But what do you mean about Gothic literature being Queer coded? Thanks for the great review 👍
You unlikable ….. nah …… maybe a pain in the ……. But not unlikable. You are a compassionate human being who has their own opinion on things. That in my definition is more of a pain in the ….. to me than unlikable.
@@WillowTalksBooks I truly meant that as a compliment. My Irish/German grandma would tell me that even though I was a pain in the …. At times that she always loved me. And nothing I could do would make me unlikable to her. She was a wise and beautiful woman who I miss.
