Our Wives Under the Sea

In Julia Armfield’s debut novel Our Wives Under the Sea, main characters Miri and Leah tell the story of their relationship, and its end, through alternating narratives. The two have been married for several years, though Leah is often gone on expeditions; she works as a marine biologist and researcher. On her last mission, for the mysterious organization known as the Centre, Leah leaves for an expected three-week exploration and does not return for another six months. Her submarine loses communications with the Centre and sinks to the ocean floor. The crew is unable to surface, trapped in the darkness, seemingly alone. In the interim, Miri anxiously awaits her wife’s return, eventually presuming her dead. Now that Leah has come home, Miri must take care of her. But Leah has changed. She is uncommunicative and distant, spending most of her time in the bath. She eats little, begins to drink saltwater, and slowly transforms into something visibly less human. Meanwhile, Miri reminisces about their past together; remembers her deceased (and difficult) mother, whom Leah never met; and attempts to reconcile her love for Leah with a growing imperative to let her go. Published in 2022, Our Wives Under the Sea combines the romance of an undeniable connection and the horror of unmitigated disintegration, both physical and psychological, to striking effect.

This guide refers to the 2022 Flatiron Books edition.

Note: This edition uses both quotation marks and italics to denote speech.

Content Warning: The novel depicts graphic body horror and death, as well mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety.

Plot Summary

Miri tries to understand what her wife, Leah, has experienced on her most recent mission, an exploration that was supposed to take her away for three weeks but left her stranded for six months. The couple does not communicate much. Miri struggles with her frustration at being rendered her wife’s caretaker, and Leah is withdrawn and quiet after her ordeal. Miri’s narrative oscillates between a nostalgic yearning for their past together and a growing horror at what is happening in the present. Namely, Leah does not seem physically well, as she suffers from frequent nosebleeds and a lack of appetite. Leah’s narrative, in comparison, largely focuses on what happened to her in those intervening six months, as recorded via her journal.

Sent by the Centre for Marine Enquiry on a routine expedition, Leah and her two crew members, Jelka and Matteo, lose communication with the Centre shortly after their submarine submerges. They experience a curious loss of control: While their oxygen continues to function, and their water-filtration system continues to work, they have no ability to maneuver the submarine. They sink until they hit what they believe to be the ocean floor. The crew lives there, surrounded by total darkness, for months. They hear noises, and Leah smells what is described as “something burning, of meat” (113), but they see nothing outside the craft.

While Leah is on her ill-fated expedition, Miri tries at first to keep on with her life, occasionally seeing friends and working, writing grants for nonprofit organizations. However, her anxiety—which predates Leah’s departure—worsens over time, and she begins to suspect that Leah is dead. Her attempts to get answers from the Centre yield only banal reassurances, until one day, Leah is suddenly sent home. The Centre offers little explanation, and Leah is unwilling to talk about her experiences. Once back, Leah begins to deteriorate physically. Miri continues to call the Centre, seeking assistance. When a representative is reachable, the Centre offers unhelpful solutions, like couples counseling. Then the Centre disappears. Their phone number is disconnected, their website taken down.

As Miri’s narrative focuses on how she met Leah and the myriad occasions that cemented their love for one another, Leah’s narrative provides her recollections of the terrifying events on the submarine. After the craft comes to a stop, the crew has no recourse for action. They cannot communicate with the surface or conduct research. Distinguishing days from nights becomes impossible, and they lose track of how much time has passed. Jelka turns to prayer, beginning to hear a voice that nobody else can hear. Matteo becomes increasingly agitated and irritated with Jelka. Leah tries to arbitrate for peace between her crewmates, but she is preoccupied with thoughts of the ocean and of what might live this far down.

In the present, Miri grows increasingly concerned about Leah’s physical transformation. When Leah emerges from the bathwater of her frequent baths, there is a ring of debris around the tub. Leah’s skin becomes translucent, even pearlescent, and her body expels saltwater from all orifices. Miri mourns the loss of her partner, not only the physical deterioration that threatens Leah’s life but also the inevitable disintegration of the relationship. At her lowest, horrified and helpless, Miri receives a call from Juna, Jelka’s sister. The two women meet, and Juna informs Miri that Jelka is dead. Miri cannot bear to hear what happened to Jelka, assuming the worst about Leah, so she flees the coffee shop. Back at home, Miri is confronted by a shocking sight: As Leah rounds the corner, one of her eyes dissolves, the socket gushing seawater.

Leah relates the final events aboard the submarine. Jelka, haunted by the voices, begins showering with her clothes on, trying to drown them out. Jelka and Matteo clash, though Matteo attempts to diffuse the situation. After some fitful sleep, Leah awakes to hear Matteo battering at the escape hatch. Jelka has gone into the antechamber that separates the submarine from the ocean. The woman opens the outer hatch and is promptly crushed by the force of the water. Shortly thereafter, communications inexplicably come back online. The two remaining crew members seize their chance to head for the surface—but not before Leah insists on getting a look at what might be out there. Convinced there is life outside the submarine, she turns on the outer lights to look. She catches a glimpse of an eye as big as the windows in the submarine. Desperate to communicate, she writes her name on a piece of paper and holds it up to the glass. The bulk of the massive creature glides past as they rise.

Leah now has trouble breathing outside of the water. Miri realizes that she must do something to help her. She calls Juna, who comes immediately. They bundle Leah in towels soaked with saltwater and take her to Miri’s mother’s place; Miri has not been able to bring herself to sell the house by the sea since her mother died. The next morning, she and Juna take Leah to the sea. Miri carries her into the water and lets her go. Leah looks back at her briefly, with her one seeing eye, before disappearing into the ocean.