Julia Armfield’s debut novel is less a creature feature and more a pressure chamber. It takes a classic horror setup and dissolves it into an intimate portrait of love, grief, and the uncanny pull of the ocean. If you go in expecting nonstop plot, you may feel adrift. If you crave atmosphere that seeps under your skin, this is one for the shelf.
The premise
Miri’s wife, Leah, returns from a catastrophic deep sea mission changed in ways that defy explanation. Back on land, Leah withdraws into water and silence while Miri clings to the memory of the woman she married. The story moves between Miri’s present day caregiving and Leah’s fragmented account of what happened on the ocean floor, letting dread accumulate like pressure at depth.
What the book does brilliantly
- Lyrical, unsettling prose. Armfield writes in sentences that glint like scales. The language is sensual and eerie, steeped in maritime imagery that turns the sea into both metaphor and monster.
- A love story wrapped in horror. Beneath the slow creep of body horror is a tender study of partnership under strain. The museum of shared memories Miri keeps revisiting makes the novel ache.
- Form that serves theme. Dual perspectives and depth titled sections mirror descent and resurfacing. The gaps in what is said give the book its charge, inviting you to inhabit the unknown.
Why it might not work for you
- Atmosphere over incident. The plot advances in small pulses rather than big swings. Readers who prefer propulsive twists could find the middle slow.
- Voice and repetition. Some will feel Miri and Leah sound too alike, and the recurring water imagery may read as overinsistent.
- Niche tone. This is literary horror with a quiet, melancholic register. If you want clearly explained lore or a tidy resolution, you may come away unsatisfied.
Verdict
Our Wives Under the Sea is a quiet earthquake. It invites you to sit with absence, to consider how love changes when the person you love is both present and gone. It is beautifully written, emotionally precise, and genuinely haunting. It will not be for everyone, but for readers who appreciate genre bending fiction that privileges mood and meaning over mechanics, it is unforgettable.
Experience it for yourself: Buy on Amazon
