1 of 2 copies available
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
July 12, 2022 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781666583403
- File size: 176173 KB
- Duration: 06:07:01
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Starred review from May 9, 2022
Armfield follows her collection, Salt Slow, with a moody and intimate debut novel, both a portrait of a marriage and a subtle horror fantasy. Miri and Leah are a married lesbian couple living in a British coastal city. Leah, a scientist with the Centre for Marine Enquiry, participates with her submarine crew in a deep-sea dive that is supposed to take three weeks but instead lasts six months, due to a malfunction, and Miri’s reactions range from helpless panic to anger to acceptance and mourning as she phones desperately to get answers from the Centre. (She even joins an online community of role-playing women who imagine their husbands are astronauts in space.) When Leah returns, she begins exhibiting such symptoms as the “silvering” of her skin, sleepwalking, loss of appetite, and a need to be near or in water. She also spends hours in the bathroom with the taps running and a sound machine playing ocean surf sounds, and bleeds frequently: from her nose, gums, and through her skin. While Miri at first looks for a logical explanation for these maladies, their source remains mysterious. Meanwhile, the two have stopped communicating and sleep in separate bedrooms, and it begins to seem as if Leah is transforming into some nonhuman creature. With echoes of Jules Verne, Thor Heyerdahl (whose work inspired Leah), H.P. Lovecraft, and the film Altered States, Armfield anchors the shudder-producing tale in authentic marine science and a deep understanding of human nature. This is mesmerizing. -
This haunting novel is beautifully written and artfully narrated by Annabel Baldwin and Robyn Holdaway. Leah, a marine biologist, returns from a submarine research mission that trapped her at the bottom of the ocean for six months. When she returns, her wife, Miri, is frustrated by inexplicable changes in Leah. In alternating chapters, Holdaway captures Leah's pre-mission excitement and her post-mission distraction, especially her seeming otherworldliness. In brooding, thoughtful tones, Baldwin precisely reflects Miri's heartache, isolation, and distress. She captures Miri's anguish and shock as Leah undergoes mysterious, horrific transformations. Thanks to fine performances, Leah's diary entries, Miri's flashbacks, and the unimaginable mystery of the deep ocean all seem real. Listeners won't want to miss this genre-bending love story. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine -
Starred review from December 1, 2022
Armfield's beautifully descriptive debut (after her short story collection, salt slow), blends elements of horror and science fiction with a quiet and painfully sad story of a relationship strained to the breaking point. The story's protagonists, Miri and Leah, are a couple dealing with uncontrollable changes in their lives. Leah, a marine biologist, has just returned home after months of being stranded on the ocean's floor in a disabled submarine. Leah's wife, Miri, is desperate to help her adjust, but it's difficult to deny that something is very wrong, and she begins to wonder if the Leah she once knew is gone forever. Annabel Baldwin and Robyn Holdaway take turns narrating alternating chapters, with Holdaway giving voice to Leah, and Baldwin narrating the part of Miri. Their presentation is so attuned to the characters' personalities that the boundary between narrator and character disappears entirely. VERDICT This haunting book transcends genre distinctions and will likely appeal to readers of literary fiction, horror, and psychological drama. Highly recommend for all audio fiction collections.--Ammi Bui
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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