“Our Wives Under the Sea” by Julia Armfield

How would you react if the love of your life were to return from an assignment changed to their very core? Would you be able to commit your entire being to making the adjustments necessary to forever care for and adapt? Julia Armfield raises these types of foundational questions in her eloquent debut novel “Our Wives Under the Sea”.

It will come as no surprise to readers of Armfield’s prized 2019 collection “Salt Slow” that the language in “Our Wives Under the Sea” is beyond stunning. The style is innovative and moving. But it is the story that will stay with me. It starts out as a reasonably plausible drama that tests two spouses in a fundamental way. It quickly devolves into dark and increasingly disturbing places. Armfield continues to mesmerize with language and style as the reader sinks ever more deeply into an abyss.

It feels like Armfield is constantly asking. “Are you (really) as strong as you think?” “Our Wives Under the Sea” is a novel that will meet people in different emotional places, appealing to a wide audience. Ms. Armfield is a special talent.

Thank you to Picador and Netgalley for the eARC.