Our Wives Under the Sea

By: Julia Armfield

Narrated by: Annabel Baldwin, Robyn Holdaway

Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Leah is changed. Months earlier, she left for a routine expedition, only this time her submarine sank to the sea floor. When she finally surfaces and returns home, her wife Miri knows that something is wrong. Barely eating and lost in her thoughts, Leah rotates between rooms in their apartment, running the taps morning and night. As Miri searches for answers, desperate to understand what happened below the water, she must face the possibility that the woman she loves is slipping from her grasp.

©2022 Julia Armfield (P)2022 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Impeccable

This novel and its narration far exceeded any and all expectations I may have when cracking open any book / popping in my earbuds, and I am nearly impossible to please in ways which even I do not recognize. Complex, melodious, surreal, beautiful, hideous, heartbreaking, intense, and just so incredibly odd beyond measure. The joining of Annabel Baldwin and Robyn Holdaway’s voices with Julia Armfield’s novel is an elusively perfect marriage of written and spoken language. When I love an audiobook, I enjoy getting my hands on the book and toggling between listening and reading… it didn’t take me long to run out and purchase this book and I found myself in the most strange place of depriving myself from reading or listening for any long periods of time because I didn’t want to reach the end! I wanted it to last as long as possible! Alas, this is one book I will re-listen to and re-read numerous times.

Eerily entertaining

This was a haunting and eerie story of loss and love between two women. I can’t really explain what I just read, but enjoyed it at times. The intense notes and running water that I felt I could hear while reading this is what kept me going. The creepiness while trying to understand what is happening is what pulled me to the end. There are scenes that I cannot grasp what importance they bring, and then select scenes that are cut so short and left with an odd, horror-like emotion. Lots of metaphors and themes to explore in this novel. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys dark love stories or short stories.

Achingly beautiful

I’m at a loss of words trying to describe this book. Equal parts horror and the kind of love story that slowly evolves, it left me wanting more and yet, complete. The characters were alive for me and the storytelling so well done it was hard to put down. The performances by both readers were so well done they felt intimate. I hope to read more by this author.

Cryptic, vague, depressing

While I loved the poetic quality of the prose and how the author explored themes of grief and loss, I was grasping for something concrete. Ended up feeling as dissatisfied as the characters in the book.

Putting the LOVE back in Lovecraft

Such a gorgeous book, and I’m wavering between 4 and 5 stars, as the last 3 chapters were so magical as to bump my opinion up. This isn’t a scary book by any means, just light cosmic horror with a sprinkling of unsettling body horror to really build the dread. Mostly, this is a beautifully wrought love story, and a meditation on grief and loss. It’s a slow burn, for sure, but thankfully short to keep it from dragging. The ending was both aggravating because of what we never learned, yet also intensely satisfying with what little we do learn. The last few moments were just breathtaking and made the whole read worthwhile. The narration was a bit TOO serene, and though the readers had remarkable diction, at times the monotone made it hard for me to stay focused on the story.

Deep, Deep, Deep…Beautiful

This book was recommended to me by an avid reader I respect. She said it moved her deeply and reminded her of the power of excellent fiction. How could I resist? Everything she said was absolutely true. This is a book about love in a myriad of ways. The author uses two women to tell the story. The two settings and two perspectives, alternating allow layers to be revealed, the story to unfold. I listened to this on Audible and the performance is as compelling as the writing.

Hated the ending

I really enjoyed this book until the end. I was looking forward to understanding what happened under the sea and was totally left hanging. No answers!

Splash redux

Intriguing and bizarre. Good narration of what happens to the crew of a research submarine. Dark tale yet a love story.

Haunting, beautiful, contemplative

Before I read this book I didn’t know at all what I was getting into, and now i can’t imagine never having read it. This book sits in your ribs and clings to you long after it’s gone and I find myself thinking about it often. It’s put a picture to a feeling so universal yet rarely described. Armfield is clearly a master at environmental story telling and descriptions, I loved this book and I wish I could experience reading it for the first time all over again.

Blah book, but narrative was good

This book was boring for me.. no real plot and the ending was disappointing. At least the lady reading it was nice to listen to. She presented emotion well & made the book tolerable. Still wouldn’t recommend tho