Our Wives Under the Sea

Our Wives Under the Sea is a haunting portrait of marriage, grief, and the realization that love cannot always keep someone from slipping away. Julia Armfield pairs deep-sea horror with lyrical literary fiction to explore what remains when a person returns home physically present while emotionally unreachable. Marine biologist Leah leaves for a routine three-week expedition and disappears beneath the ocean for six months. Her wife, Miri, spends that time believing Leah is dead. Leah eventually returns to their London flat, but homecoming offers no real reunion. She drinks saltwater, runs the taps throughout the night, and retreats into freezing baths. Meanwhile, Miri searches for answers from the mysterious organization responsible for the expedition. The alternating perspectives create two versions of loss. Leah recounts the claustrophobic months trapped inside a submarine on the ocean floor. Miri remembers their marriage while trying to reconnect with her now unfamiliar wife. Glimpses of Miri's memories of Leah include affection, private jokes, and domestic routines. The callbacks through Miri's memory make Leah’s transformation feel less like a strange scientific event and more like the prolonged disappearance of a loved one. Armfield’s writing is creative, poetic, and metaphorical. The five ocean zones mirror the stages of grief. Miri moves through denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Understanding that structure helped me appreciate what Armfield wanted to accomplish. I learned to look beneath the literal events to find the subtextual meaning. I usually struggle with writing that requires so much interpretation. I found this easy to understand because the imagery and symbolism were carefully constructed. The science fiction elements and underwater passages created more disinterest than fascination for me. I admired the character development and emotional intimacy. I never formed a strong personal connection with the sci-fi narrative. Without recognizing the grief metaphor, I may have found the story boring rather than moving. The shorter length worked in its favor because the slow and reflective pacing never had time to become too exhausting. Our Wives Under the Sea did not resonate with me as deeply as I hoped. That being said, Armfield’s writing talent is impossible to dismiss. Pick this up if you enjoy poetic prose, strange transformations, and literary horror.

Absolutely no plot. I kept waiting and waiting for it to make sense. It goes nowhere. Very disappointing!

Beautifully written.

Lyrical and poetic, brutal and honest dissection of an intimacy (while still furthering the plot put forth).

Well done Julia Armfield!

what if we kissed in the haunted ocean