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Sea Wife
For readers of Meg Wolitzer, Lionel Shriver, Kate Atkinson, and Jennifer Egan
From the highly acclaimed author of Schroder, a smart, sophisticated literary page turner about a young family who escape suburbia for a year-long sailing trip that upends all of their lives
Juliet is failing to juggle motherhood and her anemic dissertation when her husband, Michael, informs her that he wants to leave his job and buy a sailboat. The couple are novice sailors, but Michael persuades Juliet to say yes. With their two kids--Sybil, age seven, and George, age two, Juliet and Michael set off for Panama, where their forty-four-foot sailboat awaits them--a boat that Michael has christened the Juliet.
The initial result is transformative: their marriage is given a gust of energy, and even the children are affected by the beauty and wonderful vertigo of travel. The sea challenges them all--and most of all, Juliet, who suffers from postpartum depression.
Sea Wife is told in gripping dual perspectives: Juliet's first-person narration, after the journey, as she struggles to come to terms with the dire, life-changing events that unfolded at sea; and Michael's captain's log--that provides a riveting, slow-motion account of those same inexorable events.
Exuberant, harrowing, witty, and exquisitely written, Sea Wife is impossible to put down. A wholly original take on one of our oldest stories--survival at sea--it also asks a pertinent question for our polarized political moment: How does a crew with deep philosophical differences and outmoded gender roles bring a ship safely to shore?
From the highly acclaimed author of Schroder, a smart, sophisticated literary page turner about a young family who escape suburbia for a year-long sailing trip that upends all of their lives
Juliet is failing to juggle motherhood and her anemic dissertation when her husband, Michael, informs her that he wants to leave his job and buy a sailboat. The couple are novice sailors, but Michael persuades Juliet to say yes. With their two kids--Sybil, age seven, and George, age two, Juliet and Michael set off for Panama, where their forty-four-foot sailboat awaits them--a boat that Michael has christened the Juliet.
The initial result is transformative: their marriage is given a gust of energy, and even the children are affected by the beauty and wonderful vertigo of travel. The sea challenges them all--and most of all, Juliet, who suffers from postpartum depression.
Sea Wife is told in gripping dual perspectives: Juliet's first-person narration, after the journey, as she struggles to come to terms with the dire, life-changing events that unfolded at sea; and Michael's captain's log--that provides a riveting, slow-motion account of those same inexorable events.
Exuberant, harrowing, witty, and exquisitely written, Sea Wife is impossible to put down. A wholly original take on one of our oldest stories--survival at sea--it also asks a pertinent question for our polarized political moment: How does a crew with deep philosophical differences and outmoded gender roles bring a ship safely to shore?
288 pages, Hardcover
First published April 28, 2020
1906 people are currently reading
21565 people want to read
About the author
Amity Gaige
12 books975 followersAmity Gaige is the author of four previous novels, O My Darling, The Folded World, Schroder, and Sea Wife. Sea Wife was a 2020 New York Times Notable Book and a finalist for the Mark Twain American Voice Award. Her previous novel, Schroder, was named one of Best Books of 2013 by The New York Times Book Review, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, among others, and was shortlisted for UK’s Folio Prize (now Writers’ Prize) in 2014. Her work has been translated into 18 languages. Amity is the winner of a Fulbright Fellowship, fellowships at the MacDowell and Yaddo colonies, and in 2016, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Fiction. She lives in West Hartford, CT, with her family, and teaches creative writing at Yale.
Follow her on Instagram @amity_gaige.
Follow her on Instagram @amity_gaige.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,892 reviews
July 5, 2020
Would I set off in a sailboat on a year long journey with my husband and two young children? Not on your life! I hate boating despite owning two boats over the course of our marriage. But living a sea adventure vicariously? One with a mysterious death? Yes, please.
Juliet is dealing with depression, a traumatic past, and a personal failure. Michael is restless and longing for an adventure when he suggests the one year trip. Juliet agrees, with reservations. However, is it a good idea to set off on a journey like this when one of you has debilitating depression and your marriage is strained? No, it is not. Years ago my husband and I set off on a one hour catamaran trip and we were lucky to keep our marriage together. Haha.
We know from the beginning a tragedy happened. Told in dual perspectives, the story alternates Michael’s journal entries and Juliet’s struggles in the present day to cope with what happened at sea.
I was totally invested in the story until the 50% mark. By then the overwhelming bleak tone and the highly technical sailing jargon in the journal entries bogged down the story,. To make matters worse the author inexplicably added political arguments, rife with stereotypes, into the story (a pet peeve of mine).
In the end I wasn’t sure what the point was. Keep in mind that according to the publisher this is literary fiction, not a mystery (as it was listed under a popular summer reading guide). In any case, I’d recommend it for anyone who thinks a year long sailing journey sounds like a good idea, because you will quickly be disabused of the notion.
At first glance this is the type of character-driven book I usually love. I picked it up based on a blogger/podcaster’s recommendation in her summer reading guide. But I felt this book tried too hard to be deep and literary, which bored me to tears. Coming in at slightly under 300 pages it felt twice as long and more plodding than exciting. It was definitely not a “sophisticated page-turner” for me. Many others have enjoyed this one so be sure to check out other reviews.
Juliet is dealing with depression, a traumatic past, and a personal failure. Michael is restless and longing for an adventure when he suggests the one year trip. Juliet agrees, with reservations. However, is it a good idea to set off on a journey like this when one of you has debilitating depression and your marriage is strained? No, it is not. Years ago my husband and I set off on a one hour catamaran trip and we were lucky to keep our marriage together. Haha.
We know from the beginning a tragedy happened. Told in dual perspectives, the story alternates Michael’s journal entries and Juliet’s struggles in the present day to cope with what happened at sea.
I was totally invested in the story until the 50% mark. By then the overwhelming bleak tone and the highly technical sailing jargon in the journal entries bogged down the story,. To make matters worse the author inexplicably added political arguments, rife with stereotypes, into the story (a pet peeve of mine).
In the end I wasn’t sure what the point was. Keep in mind that according to the publisher this is literary fiction, not a mystery (as it was listed under a popular summer reading guide). In any case, I’d recommend it for anyone who thinks a year long sailing journey sounds like a good idea, because you will quickly be disabused of the notion.
At first glance this is the type of character-driven book I usually love. I picked it up based on a blogger/podcaster’s recommendation in her summer reading guide. But I felt this book tried too hard to be deep and literary, which bored me to tears. Coming in at slightly under 300 pages it felt twice as long and more plodding than exciting. It was definitely not a “sophisticated page-turner” for me. Many others have enjoyed this one so be sure to check out other reviews.
August 6, 2020
***PERFECT ESCAPE READ, TAKE A SEA VOYAGE***
This novel had everything that I love about a book. It is transformative in it’s descriptions of life at sea with small children and the many challenges of modern marriage. The writing style is unique, the characters of Michael, Juliet and their seven year old daughter Sybil are very well developed. It does take a bit of patience in the beginning when the stage is being set for the rest of the novel, but it then moves along at a quick pace.
Juliet has been prone to bouts of depression and has felt as though she left her dreams of earning her doctorate degree behind as she can’t seem to concentrate on her dissertation. Michael has had a very good job but one that he dislikes going to day after day. He starts to go to a marina that is close by and talking to a 60 year old man about boats, sailing and life at sea. Michael’s father had taken him sailing on the Great Lakes when he was young and he had loved everything about it.
Michael is finally getting desperate to get out of the rut he feels his job and marriage have become. The marriage is crumbling around both of their disappointments. He begins to tell Juliet his plan of buying a 44 ft sailboat and taking a year off of work, all of them, to sail to Panama and enjoy the freedom of no daily routine. He convinces her that the children will be better for it, that the sea will teach them more than they can learn in the classroom.
As the story of their voyage takes off we will learn their feelings throughout because of the two points of view.
Juliet’s story is told in her narration of the present and past. She describes what she is going through now after the sea voyage is over and in the past from her telling us about what happened those months away.
Michael’s point of view is told through what begins as a captain’s log and ends up being a journal of his feelings about the sea, his marriage and some of his true feelings about Juliet. It is almost a confessional “Can you talk your love away? Because I love her and I think somewhere she still loves me. The truth is we can’t get the timing right.”
The descriptions of life at sea were so well described I could picture the beautiful blue sky and endless ocean. Describing a storm at sea in which Juliet had to sail the boat I felt myself tense during the entire description. I kept wanting to be able to help her, in the end she found the help she needed.
I’d like to just briefly quote the author from an interview on Libro.FM “I got interested in people who raise their kids on boats. Those people seemed both a little reckless, and very free”.
There is so much more I could say about this book but I want you to discover the beauty of it for yourself. If you are looking for a great escape read and/or an adventure that you can get lost in, this is definitely the book for you.
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans” -- John Lennon
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss, I also want to thank the author for the privilege of reading this advanced copy.
This novel had everything that I love about a book. It is transformative in it’s descriptions of life at sea with small children and the many challenges of modern marriage. The writing style is unique, the characters of Michael, Juliet and their seven year old daughter Sybil are very well developed. It does take a bit of patience in the beginning when the stage is being set for the rest of the novel, but it then moves along at a quick pace.
Juliet has been prone to bouts of depression and has felt as though she left her dreams of earning her doctorate degree behind as she can’t seem to concentrate on her dissertation. Michael has had a very good job but one that he dislikes going to day after day. He starts to go to a marina that is close by and talking to a 60 year old man about boats, sailing and life at sea. Michael’s father had taken him sailing on the Great Lakes when he was young and he had loved everything about it.
Michael is finally getting desperate to get out of the rut he feels his job and marriage have become. The marriage is crumbling around both of their disappointments. He begins to tell Juliet his plan of buying a 44 ft sailboat and taking a year off of work, all of them, to sail to Panama and enjoy the freedom of no daily routine. He convinces her that the children will be better for it, that the sea will teach them more than they can learn in the classroom.
As the story of their voyage takes off we will learn their feelings throughout because of the two points of view.
Juliet’s story is told in her narration of the present and past. She describes what she is going through now after the sea voyage is over and in the past from her telling us about what happened those months away.
Michael’s point of view is told through what begins as a captain’s log and ends up being a journal of his feelings about the sea, his marriage and some of his true feelings about Juliet. It is almost a confessional “Can you talk your love away? Because I love her and I think somewhere she still loves me. The truth is we can’t get the timing right.”
The descriptions of life at sea were so well described I could picture the beautiful blue sky and endless ocean. Describing a storm at sea in which Juliet had to sail the boat I felt myself tense during the entire description. I kept wanting to be able to help her, in the end she found the help she needed.
I’d like to just briefly quote the author from an interview on Libro.FM “I got interested in people who raise their kids on boats. Those people seemed both a little reckless, and very free”.
There is so much more I could say about this book but I want you to discover the beauty of it for yourself. If you are looking for a great escape read and/or an adventure that you can get lost in, this is definitely the book for you.
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans” -- John Lennon
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss, I also want to thank the author for the privilege of reading this advanced copy.
June 17, 2025
UNA TESTA PIENA DI POESIA
La foto in copertina è di Gabriela Teplická.
Una testa piena di poesia è quella di Juliet, il principale io-narrante, che condivide il nome con la barca a vela – è stato suo marito Michael a ribattezzarla così in suo onore. Juliet ha studiato poesia: ma non è riuscita a concludere il dottorato perché è arrivata la prima bimba, eppure era stata au pair a Straford-upon-Avon convinta che l’aria shakespeariana l’avrebbe spinta a comporre versi. Se non che era già così tanto innamorata di Michael che è tornata prima del tempo, incapace di restargli lontana.
Il racconto procede per ‘voce’ di Juliet e attraverso il diario di bordo di Michael: in quelle pagine scritte è lui l’io-narrante. È la sua voce scritta sulle pagine del diario di bordo, ed è come tra lei e lui si sviluppasse uno strano dialogo intrecciato, dove l’uno integra e completa l’altra e viceversa.
Poi, a un certo punto s’introduce un terzo elemento: le sessioni di Sybil, la prima figlia di sette anni, con la psicologa, dopo il lungo viaggio in barca.
Viaggio che avrebbe dovuto durare un anno: ma poi un evento drammatico lo accorcia. La famiglia rimane comunque almeno otto mesi nelle acque dei Caraibi, trasformando la barca Juliet nella loro casa.
Una coppia ancora relativamente giovane – non ancora quarantenni – con una figlia di sette anni e un bimbo di quasi tre, che è in ritardo col linguaggio. Moglie e marito sono in crisi: lei come sempre è facile alle lacrime in modo allarmante (piagnona è un eufemismo), ed è forse tra i due quella che si sta allontanando di più; lui vorrebbe restare unito, aggrappato, ma non è abbastanza bravo. E poi lui è repubblicano e lei democratica.
E la maternità non ha sistemato nulla, tutt’altro, ha riportato a galla quella depressione che Juliet cova da anni.
D’altra parte, come Tolstoj insegna, tutte le famiglie felici si assomigliano, ma ogni famiglia infelice è infelice a modo suo.
All’improvviso Michael ha una pensata folle: come salvare un matrimonio in crisi? Comprando una barca a vela e partendo con tutta la famiglia per un viaggio non stop di un anno.
Quale idea migliore che rinchiudere in uno spazio notoriamente claustrofobico (calma piatta) un nucleo famigliare che si sta sgretolando?
Eppure, eppure la pensata non si rivela così peregrina.
Mi vengono in mente due modi (almeno?) per raccontare qualcosa al proprio analista: uno è quando abbiamo in mente un ricordo preciso, un fatto, un episodio, un elemento; il secondo è quando invece la comunicazione avviene per così dire casualmente: parlando di qualcosa, di qualcos’altro - un ricordo preciso, un fatto, un episodio, un elemento… - viene fuori, emerge quasi per caso. Quasi inconsapevolmente. L’inconscio si attiva e trasmette.
Mi viene in mente che sembra proprio questo secondo procedimento quello con cui Gaige racconta la sua storia, cosparsa di indizi, informazioni, fatti, elaborazioni, che sembrano venire a galla quasi per caso, per così dire, in apparente assenza di un piano strutturato, di una scaletta: qua e là, all’improvviso, nel corso del racconto, emergono aspetti che sono rivelatori, che gettano una luce nuova, che è bene tenere stretti nella memoria.
Gaige/Juliet non segue un percorso cronologico lineare, anzi, parte dalla fine, va avanti e indietro nel tempo, introduce materiali narrativi diversi (il diario nautico di suo marito, le sedute della figlia con la terapeuta, poesie di Anne Sexton): si salta da qui a là, da adesso a dopo a prima, da lei a lui all’altra. Tutto si riesce a seguire, e apprezzare, con estrema chiarezza.
A volte si ha l’impressione che Gaige/Juliet voglia virare verso il thriller: per come centellina le informazioni, per come lascia il lettore a farsi domande, perché c’è una morte, e poi forse un’altra, e poi compare la polizia, e poi c’è stato un abuso, delle molestie, forse una violenza…
Ma non è un thriller.
È un libro sorprendente, anche perché completamente inaspettato, sia per la sua storia, che la sua struttura, che la sua bellezza.
Le poesie e le canzoni tristi mi fanno ‘sentire’ meglio. Penso: “Sì, mi sento esattamente così”. E a quel punto sto meglio.
Le foto sono tutte di Gabriela Teplická.
La foto in copertina è di Gabriela Teplická.
Una testa piena di poesia è quella di Juliet, il principale io-narrante, che condivide il nome con la barca a vela – è stato suo marito Michael a ribattezzarla così in suo onore. Juliet ha studiato poesia: ma non è riuscita a concludere il dottorato perché è arrivata la prima bimba, eppure era stata au pair a Straford-upon-Avon convinta che l’aria shakespeariana l’avrebbe spinta a comporre versi. Se non che era già così tanto innamorata di Michael che è tornata prima del tempo, incapace di restargli lontana.
Il racconto procede per ‘voce’ di Juliet e attraverso il diario di bordo di Michael: in quelle pagine scritte è lui l’io-narrante. È la sua voce scritta sulle pagine del diario di bordo, ed è come tra lei e lui si sviluppasse uno strano dialogo intrecciato, dove l’uno integra e completa l’altra e viceversa.
Poi, a un certo punto s’introduce un terzo elemento: le sessioni di Sybil, la prima figlia di sette anni, con la psicologa, dopo il lungo viaggio in barca.
Viaggio che avrebbe dovuto durare un anno: ma poi un evento drammatico lo accorcia. La famiglia rimane comunque almeno otto mesi nelle acque dei Caraibi, trasformando la barca Juliet nella loro casa.
Una coppia ancora relativamente giovane – non ancora quarantenni – con una figlia di sette anni e un bimbo di quasi tre, che è in ritardo col linguaggio. Moglie e marito sono in crisi: lei come sempre è facile alle lacrime in modo allarmante (piagnona è un eufemismo), ed è forse tra i due quella che si sta allontanando di più; lui vorrebbe restare unito, aggrappato, ma non è abbastanza bravo. E poi lui è repubblicano e lei democratica.
E la maternità non ha sistemato nulla, tutt’altro, ha riportato a galla quella depressione che Juliet cova da anni.
D’altra parte, come Tolstoj insegna, tutte le famiglie felici si assomigliano, ma ogni famiglia infelice è infelice a modo suo.
All’improvviso Michael ha una pensata folle: come salvare un matrimonio in crisi? Comprando una barca a vela e partendo con tutta la famiglia per un viaggio non stop di un anno.
Quale idea migliore che rinchiudere in uno spazio notoriamente claustrofobico (calma piatta) un nucleo famigliare che si sta sgretolando?
Eppure, eppure la pensata non si rivela così peregrina.
Mi vengono in mente due modi (almeno?) per raccontare qualcosa al proprio analista: uno è quando abbiamo in mente un ricordo preciso, un fatto, un episodio, un elemento; il secondo è quando invece la comunicazione avviene per così dire casualmente: parlando di qualcosa, di qualcos’altro - un ricordo preciso, un fatto, un episodio, un elemento… - viene fuori, emerge quasi per caso. Quasi inconsapevolmente. L’inconscio si attiva e trasmette.
Mi viene in mente che sembra proprio questo secondo procedimento quello con cui Gaige racconta la sua storia, cosparsa di indizi, informazioni, fatti, elaborazioni, che sembrano venire a galla quasi per caso, per così dire, in apparente assenza di un piano strutturato, di una scaletta: qua e là, all’improvviso, nel corso del racconto, emergono aspetti che sono rivelatori, che gettano una luce nuova, che è bene tenere stretti nella memoria.
Gaige/Juliet non segue un percorso cronologico lineare, anzi, parte dalla fine, va avanti e indietro nel tempo, introduce materiali narrativi diversi (il diario nautico di suo marito, le sedute della figlia con la terapeuta, poesie di Anne Sexton): si salta da qui a là, da adesso a dopo a prima, da lei a lui all’altra. Tutto si riesce a seguire, e apprezzare, con estrema chiarezza.
A volte si ha l’impressione che Gaige/Juliet voglia virare verso il thriller: per come centellina le informazioni, per come lascia il lettore a farsi domande, perché c’è una morte, e poi forse un’altra, e poi compare la polizia, e poi c’è stato un abuso, delle molestie, forse una violenza…
Ma non è un thriller.
È un libro sorprendente, anche perché completamente inaspettato, sia per la sua storia, che la sua struttura, che la sua bellezza.
Le poesie e le canzoni tristi mi fanno ‘sentire’ meglio. Penso: “Sì, mi sento esattamente così”. E a quel punto sto meglio.
Le foto sono tutte di Gabriela Teplická.
May 27, 2020
As I started reading this I asked myself a question. Would I take my children and sail on a boat for a year? Nope, not now at my age and not even if I was younger.Yet this is exactly what Juliet agrees to do, despite her misgivings.
We know what happens from the begining, but not the how and why. Through journal entries we follow the course of their trip. The two children are delightful and add some much needed humor. I enjoyed how this story was told, the hint of mystery, the dread of not knowing the details, and the tension as the story mounts. Tightly plotted, knowledge is revealed in increments, the author has a firm grasp of her story.
Of course there is much about sailing, storms, equipment breakage and a marriage that needs to heal.
Marriage and parenthood, how easy it is to lose oneself. How difficult to heal.
We know what happens from the begining, but not the how and why. Through journal entries we follow the course of their trip. The two children are delightful and add some much needed humor. I enjoyed how this story was told, the hint of mystery, the dread of not knowing the details, and the tension as the story mounts. Tightly plotted, knowledge is revealed in increments, the author has a firm grasp of her story.
Of course there is much about sailing, storms, equipment breakage and a marriage that needs to heal.
Marriage and parenthood, how easy it is to lose oneself. How difficult to heal.
June 25, 2025
Where Does A
Mistake Begin...
SEA WIFE
by Amity Gaige
4 stars. I would classify this novel as a seafaring adventure, but it is also a bit of a mystery...
Michael Partlow has been taking his lunch lately at the marina... staring longingly at the many boats moored there...
When...
A man named Harry, a total stranger, approached him and tempted him with a boat for sale...
After many days of contemplation...
... and without his wife's knowledge, Michael scratched together the funds to buy the boat...
Michael informed his wife, who was suffering from depression, that they and their two children were going to...
Sail the Caribbean for the next year...
This unexpected news added to the already building tension in the marriage...
The family, who knew nothing about sailing, learned while at sea and actually developed a new life as a family of sailors...
But waiting for them when they docked in Columbia...
... was the long-forgotten Harry who wants his turn with Juliet (the name of the boat) as agreed upon a year earlier...
Harry...
Unknown to Michael's wife Juliet, is Michael's silent partner whose funds enabled Michael to buy the boat...
Juliet was unaware that there was a silent partner...
Where does a mistake begin? We usually don't remember because we tend to cherry-pick the past...
This was an excellent seafaring adventure that was very much like a 90s movie, CAPTAIN RON, starring Kurt Russell. It is told from Juliet's POV and with entries from Michael's captain's log for his POV.
One star lost for the last unnecessary 10%, which added nothing and was very boring.
A little pep talk: The story changes perspectives randomly, but it wasn't too hard to follow. Also, Juliet is the name of the wife as well as the boat, so sometimes it is a little confusing. I found it helpful to keep a tab open with SPANISH TO ENGLISH to translate some words and passages, but don't worry, there was very little translation needed. Wonderful story!
Mistake Begin...
SEA WIFE
by Amity Gaige
4 stars. I would classify this novel as a seafaring adventure, but it is also a bit of a mystery...
Michael Partlow has been taking his lunch lately at the marina... staring longingly at the many boats moored there...
When...
A man named Harry, a total stranger, approached him and tempted him with a boat for sale...
After many days of contemplation...
... and without his wife's knowledge, Michael scratched together the funds to buy the boat...
Michael informed his wife, who was suffering from depression, that they and their two children were going to...
Sail the Caribbean for the next year...
This unexpected news added to the already building tension in the marriage...
The family, who knew nothing about sailing, learned while at sea and actually developed a new life as a family of sailors...
But waiting for them when they docked in Columbia...
... was the long-forgotten Harry who wants his turn with Juliet (the name of the boat) as agreed upon a year earlier...
Harry...
Unknown to Michael's wife Juliet, is Michael's silent partner whose funds enabled Michael to buy the boat...
Juliet was unaware that there was a silent partner...
Where does a mistake begin? We usually don't remember because we tend to cherry-pick the past...
This was an excellent seafaring adventure that was very much like a 90s movie, CAPTAIN RON, starring Kurt Russell. It is told from Juliet's POV and with entries from Michael's captain's log for his POV.
One star lost for the last unnecessary 10%, which added nothing and was very boring.
A little pep talk: The story changes perspectives randomly, but it wasn't too hard to follow. Also, Juliet is the name of the wife as well as the boat, so sometimes it is a little confusing. I found it helpful to keep a tab open with SPANISH TO ENGLISH to translate some words and passages, but don't worry, there was very little translation needed. Wonderful story!
August 18, 2020
Audiobook.... read by Cassandra Campbell, Will Damron, and
Emily Gaige ( the child’s voice)
Between the terrific endorsements by authors I admire: Claire Messud and Lauren Groff....
audio-master-narrators....
the many 4 and 5 star ratings....
the gorgeous book cover....
the intriguing and interesting sounding blurb....
I was expecting at least a fun escape read.....
But my god..... there were so many things about this book that drove me cuckoo-crazy.
LEAST OF WHICH whether the debate even matters: yes or no in favor of living on a sailboat for a year with small children .....
I debated tossing this book out the window about four times— set the sail
free—
but then I decided to keep listening closely to the lyrical sentences—the overly descriptive sentences —-the nails on a chalk board marital bickering....trying authentically to discovered
some enjoyment.
The book was easy to follow—but
it wasn’t a fun escape joy ride to me whatsoever.
I became apathetic to the draggy stretched-out-windy-descriptions.
The characters were so unlikable — they drained my energy reserves.
I’m about to have my first dentist appointment today since our March lockdown....
should I tell my dentist that “Sea Wife” gave me a virtual throbbing toothache?
The best parts:
Casandra and Will were terrific as the voice narrators.
Emily, the child....was ghastly annoying. Her voice was irritating, and precocious, (not in a good way).
If the child told one more of her syrupy-sweet stories- I swear I was going puke from sugar overdose.
I appreciate the many readers who thoroughly enjoyed this book. Honestly- kudos to them.
Sorry - this one just gave me the chunky-nutties!
Am I the first reader to notice how many times the word ****wind**** was used?
Geeeee—-it became nauseating.
“I opened my mouth and let the wind fill it”..... ok???
The windy word ‘wind’ was way overused.
I also grew tired of the technical blubber about the engine, batteries, sails, and other mechanical devices ....
I often forgot they were on the water... and I absolutely love water. I dated a guy who lived on a boat. I’ve done my share of sailing.
But....
I grew tired of Juliet, and Michael speaking to each other with their nasty tones.
Their arguing felt pushed - forced & exaggerated.
The talented adult’ audiobook voices took this often ‘blah, blah, blah’ story and gave it a little pizzazz.....
But....
overall the storytelling, itself, was as choppy as the sea.
Emily Gaige ( the child’s voice)
Between the terrific endorsements by authors I admire: Claire Messud and Lauren Groff....
audio-master-narrators....
the many 4 and 5 star ratings....
the gorgeous book cover....
the intriguing and interesting sounding blurb....
I was expecting at least a fun escape read.....
But my god..... there were so many things about this book that drove me cuckoo-crazy.
LEAST OF WHICH whether the debate even matters: yes or no in favor of living on a sailboat for a year with small children .....
I debated tossing this book out the window about four times— set the sail
free—
but then I decided to keep listening closely to the lyrical sentences—the overly descriptive sentences —-the nails on a chalk board marital bickering....trying authentically to discovered
some enjoyment.
The book was easy to follow—but
it wasn’t a fun escape joy ride to me whatsoever.
I became apathetic to the draggy stretched-out-windy-descriptions.
The characters were so unlikable — they drained my energy reserves.
I’m about to have my first dentist appointment today since our March lockdown....
should I tell my dentist that “Sea Wife” gave me a virtual throbbing toothache?
The best parts:
Casandra and Will were terrific as the voice narrators.
Emily, the child....was ghastly annoying. Her voice was irritating, and precocious, (not in a good way).
If the child told one more of her syrupy-sweet stories- I swear I was going puke from sugar overdose.
I appreciate the many readers who thoroughly enjoyed this book. Honestly- kudos to them.
Sorry - this one just gave me the chunky-nutties!
Am I the first reader to notice how many times the word ****wind**** was used?
Geeeee—-it became nauseating.
“I opened my mouth and let the wind fill it”..... ok???
The windy word ‘wind’ was way overused.
I also grew tired of the technical blubber about the engine, batteries, sails, and other mechanical devices ....
I often forgot they were on the water... and I absolutely love water. I dated a guy who lived on a boat. I’ve done my share of sailing.
But....
I grew tired of Juliet, and Michael speaking to each other with their nasty tones.
Their arguing felt pushed - forced & exaggerated.
The talented adult’ audiobook voices took this often ‘blah, blah, blah’ story and gave it a little pizzazz.....
But....
overall the storytelling, itself, was as choppy as the sea.
June 8, 2020
3.5 stars
I’m a bit torn with my feelings toward this book. On the one hand, it was a really good story, well-written and atmospheric, with a unique narrative structure that alternates between the first person perspective of Juliet Partlow (the “sea wife” from the title) and that of her husband Michael through his captain’s logbook. After buying a sailboat, Michael decides to quit his job as an insurance agent and convinces his wife Juliet, along with their 2 young kids Sybil (7 years old) and George (2 years old), to accompany him on a year-long sailing trip to Panama. Their journey is a harrowing one, made even more difficult by the fact that both Michael and Juliet are novice sailors, mostly learning as they go. As they head out on their journey, Michael and Juliet soon realize that navigating the tumultuous seas is just one of the challenges they must face, as some of the underlying issues that had already put their marriage in a precarious position prior to the trip begin to gradually surface. Through Juliet’s reflections after the trip, supplemented by Michael’s recollection of events through the log he kept during the journey, a complex picture emerges that provides deeper insight into not just their present situation but also their pasts. The story itself covers quite a bit in terms of themes — from the bonds of family to the complications of societal relationships, from strength built upon love to resilience in the face of adversity, there was definitely much to reflect upon here.
As I said earlier, this was a good story overall, well-crafted with realistic characters and an interesting premise. The mystery portion, as it pertained to the events that unfolded on the trip leading to the revelation of what happened to Michael, while not the main focus, was pretty well done. There was an ominous tone that permeated most of the story, a sense that something had to have gone terribly wrong on the trip, but we (the readers) won’t find out what happened until the time was right to reveal it. The structure was effective, though it also naturally lent itself to a “slow-burn” narrative where bits of context were revealed gradually, bit by bit, and not always in a straightforward manner.
While I did like the story well enough as a whole, one thing that didn’t really work for me were the elaborate descriptions of the various aspects of sailing, including loads of terminology and other technical stuff that, quite frankly, went way over my head. This bogged down parts of the story for me, and in some instances, broke the flow of my reading, which was definitely frustrating. Also, the sections that had a political bent to them confused me a bit, as I wasn’t expecting politics to play a role here, for one, and two, a lot of the political stuff that came up didn’t feel like it had anything to do with the rest of the story — for example, a discussion the characters would be having about parenting would suddenly veer into a drunken rant about capitalism and immigration policies (that’s just one example — there were other references to politics that I picked up on scattered throughout the story). I usually get annoyed when a book I’m reading veers into political territory unexpectedly (it’s a pet peeve of mine), especially when it has little to nothing to do with the story — in this instance, it definitely affected my reading experience, though luckily the rest of the story was compelling enough that it didn’t completely overwhelm.
I’m glad I picked this one up and it was a good read for the most part, but unfortunately I don’t think I was able to appreciate the “depth” of the story as much as I usually would have. Perhaps it is because of everything that has been going on in the world lately (plus the added stress overall in my work and family life), I’ve been finding it a bit of a struggle to read books that lean more toward the “heavy” side of things. But with that said, I’m grateful that I’m able to read at all during this unprecedented time, so if I’m not able to give a book 100% focus or the attention it deserves at the moment, I will try not to beat myself up too hard over it.
I’m a bit torn with my feelings toward this book. On the one hand, it was a really good story, well-written and atmospheric, with a unique narrative structure that alternates between the first person perspective of Juliet Partlow (the “sea wife” from the title) and that of her husband Michael through his captain’s logbook. After buying a sailboat, Michael decides to quit his job as an insurance agent and convinces his wife Juliet, along with their 2 young kids Sybil (7 years old) and George (2 years old), to accompany him on a year-long sailing trip to Panama. Their journey is a harrowing one, made even more difficult by the fact that both Michael and Juliet are novice sailors, mostly learning as they go. As they head out on their journey, Michael and Juliet soon realize that navigating the tumultuous seas is just one of the challenges they must face, as some of the underlying issues that had already put their marriage in a precarious position prior to the trip begin to gradually surface. Through Juliet’s reflections after the trip, supplemented by Michael’s recollection of events through the log he kept during the journey, a complex picture emerges that provides deeper insight into not just their present situation but also their pasts. The story itself covers quite a bit in terms of themes — from the bonds of family to the complications of societal relationships, from strength built upon love to resilience in the face of adversity, there was definitely much to reflect upon here.
As I said earlier, this was a good story overall, well-crafted with realistic characters and an interesting premise. The mystery portion, as it pertained to the events that unfolded on the trip leading to the revelation of what happened to Michael, while not the main focus, was pretty well done. There was an ominous tone that permeated most of the story, a sense that something had to have gone terribly wrong on the trip, but we (the readers) won’t find out what happened until the time was right to reveal it. The structure was effective, though it also naturally lent itself to a “slow-burn” narrative where bits of context were revealed gradually, bit by bit, and not always in a straightforward manner.
While I did like the story well enough as a whole, one thing that didn’t really work for me were the elaborate descriptions of the various aspects of sailing, including loads of terminology and other technical stuff that, quite frankly, went way over my head. This bogged down parts of the story for me, and in some instances, broke the flow of my reading, which was definitely frustrating. Also, the sections that had a political bent to them confused me a bit, as I wasn’t expecting politics to play a role here, for one, and two, a lot of the political stuff that came up didn’t feel like it had anything to do with the rest of the story — for example, a discussion the characters would be having about parenting would suddenly veer into a drunken rant about capitalism and immigration policies (that’s just one example — there were other references to politics that I picked up on scattered throughout the story). I usually get annoyed when a book I’m reading veers into political territory unexpectedly (it’s a pet peeve of mine), especially when it has little to nothing to do with the story — in this instance, it definitely affected my reading experience, though luckily the rest of the story was compelling enough that it didn’t completely overwhelm.
I’m glad I picked this one up and it was a good read for the most part, but unfortunately I don’t think I was able to appreciate the “depth” of the story as much as I usually would have. Perhaps it is because of everything that has been going on in the world lately (plus the added stress overall in my work and family life), I’ve been finding it a bit of a struggle to read books that lean more toward the “heavy” side of things. But with that said, I’m grateful that I’m able to read at all during this unprecedented time, so if I’m not able to give a book 100% focus or the attention it deserves at the moment, I will try not to beat myself up too hard over it.
June 24, 2025
I wouldn’t have even noticed this book, hadn’t I been waiting for her latest one, “Heartwood” which is on the hot waitlist at my local library. So, I thought I would check-it out on one of my recent local library visits since it mentioned it was a psychological suspense thriller.
So, what did I think?
Something is terribly wrong. Why is Juliet hanging out in her closet? And, that is how readers first meet Juliet, the ‘sea wife’ who has retreated from her family. It will take a while before readers understand exactly what is going on or what has happened.
In Juliet’s present-day narrative, she regains family life with her two children and begins to recount the experience of living with her family on a 44-foot sailboat. Thus, giving readers a sense of what constitutes a sea wife. (Hence: the title of the book.)
We also get Michael’s point of view from his ship’s logs. And, sometimes we hear from Sybil’s young voice, their 7-year-old.
Readers learn that it is Michael’s desired bliss to have a year-long odyssey sail to Panama before returning home to Connecticut.
It becomes clear to readers that this is clearly not Juliet’s dream, but she wants to support her husband. Their children, Sybil (7) and George (2) thrive on this adventure, but there is no escaping whatever ailed Juliet and Michael’s marriage.
The author gives readers a strong sense of the scenic challenges of life at sea.
Clearly, this isn’t the trip that this couple had hoped for, and readers will feel dread almost immediately through a series of unfortunate events. And, as the family found themselves adrift, it was easy to be adrift as a reader without quotation marks around the author’s characters’ dialogue.
Whatever eventually happened to the characters, (no spoilers from me) it was hard to know how to feel about it. The story is definitely, tense, awkward, compelling, multi-layered and unsettling. But to be honest, I am still shaking my head wondering about what I just read. I may be an outlier, so please read other reviews.
3.5 stars
So, what did I think?
Something is terribly wrong. Why is Juliet hanging out in her closet? And, that is how readers first meet Juliet, the ‘sea wife’ who has retreated from her family. It will take a while before readers understand exactly what is going on or what has happened.
In Juliet’s present-day narrative, she regains family life with her two children and begins to recount the experience of living with her family on a 44-foot sailboat. Thus, giving readers a sense of what constitutes a sea wife. (Hence: the title of the book.)
We also get Michael’s point of view from his ship’s logs. And, sometimes we hear from Sybil’s young voice, their 7-year-old.
Readers learn that it is Michael’s desired bliss to have a year-long odyssey sail to Panama before returning home to Connecticut.
It becomes clear to readers that this is clearly not Juliet’s dream, but she wants to support her husband. Their children, Sybil (7) and George (2) thrive on this adventure, but there is no escaping whatever ailed Juliet and Michael’s marriage.
The author gives readers a strong sense of the scenic challenges of life at sea.
Clearly, this isn’t the trip that this couple had hoped for, and readers will feel dread almost immediately through a series of unfortunate events. And, as the family found themselves adrift, it was easy to be adrift as a reader without quotation marks around the author’s characters’ dialogue.
Whatever eventually happened to the characters, (no spoilers from me) it was hard to know how to feel about it. The story is definitely, tense, awkward, compelling, multi-layered and unsettling. But to be honest, I am still shaking my head wondering about what I just read. I may be an outlier, so please read other reviews.
3.5 stars
June 19, 2020
Actual rating: 4.5 stars, rounded up.
This is the opening line of Amity Gaige’s newest novel, Sea Wife. We know from the very beginning that something terrible has happened. We just don’t know the specifics of what or how. The story is told largely from two perspectives: Juliet in the present and her husband, Michael, in the past through the captain’s log he kept during their sailing year. There are a few different mysteries woven through the plot, but I felt that the story largely centers around what makes a marriage, and what ends one. Sea Wife is a deep, beautifully written novel with enough pace to the plot to maintain investment while also discussing timeless topics in fresh ways.
Michael is determined to take his family on a year-long sailing trip, to get away from modern American life and consumer culture and just live life to the very fullest. Juliet is struggling: as a mother, as a wife, as a doctoral candidate, and a human being. And Michael believes with his whole being that this trip could be exactly what Juliet needs to combat her depression. Juliet acquiesces and, for better or worse, the couple and their two young children embark on the experience of a lifetime.
So many difficult topics are addressed within this novel. How a difference in political opinion and worldview can put incredible strain on a marriage. How trauma never goes away, no matter how many years you put between it and yourself. How kids are so much more resilient and brave and hardy than we often give them credit for. How just because loving someone becomes difficult doesn’t mean that it’s not worth the struggle. There are no easy answers, and Gaige doesn’t even try to put forth any. Instead, she captures the importance of questioning, and how vital a role said questioning plays in an individual’s mental health and in the longevity of any relationship.
The rare inclusions of a third perspective, their daughter Sybil’s, were jarring but sweet. She brought an added innocence to the novel. It’s easy to present a precocious child as selfish or obnoxious or glib, but Gaige fleshes Sybil out just as thoroughly as she does Juliet and Michael. Smart but kind, creative but observant, Sybil ended up being my favorite character, though I loved them all.
Things get very meta as the plot progresses and we see Juliet’s interaction with Michael’s logbook. I love the framework of a book within a book, and this was a very different usage of that trope. However, it took me a bit to adjust to the (very abrupt) transitions between perspectives. Until I found the book’s rhythm, each transition was repeated whiplash. This is a case where having access to the audiobook is very helpful, as each perspective is voiced by a different person. I simultaneously read this book via audio and ebook, and that combination made for an incredibly immersive experience.
Gaige did a great job presenting both sides of this political war between spouses. Both arguments were perfectly rational within the minds that housed them, so much so that the opposite party had no room in said mind for the other person’s argument. That’s why they could never understand one another: there was no room for understanding. This vast schism between their worldviews made for a lot of added tension, both in the novel and in the marriage it presented.
I love what Gaige has to say about poetry specifically and art as a whole through Juliet. These are the passages that resonated the most deeply with me. Juliet’s relationship with poetry, how it served as both solace and accuser, is fascinating. That’s a similar relationship to the one I have with art, specifically music. Art is both a window and a mirror, and Gaige demonstrated that beautifully.
Sea Wife is insanely well written. The hardest thing I’ve done all week was narrowing down the dozens upon dozens of passages I highlighted into a manageable amount to include in this review. Gaige has a gorgeous way of describing things, both tangible objects and intangible ideas, both nature and human nature. But yet again, this is another in the slew of new releases that seems morally opposed to the use of quotation marks. I can understand it in a way, as we’re getting the story from the minds of those who endured it, but it still throws me off. I don’t want quotation marks to go out of style. I like quotation marks, dang it.
The only other element I want to mention is the abundance of nautical terminology. I know some people have a difficult time connecting to stories that rely on jargon. That’s not this book. While plenty of such terms are present, they in no way hinder a nautically ignorant reader from sinking into the story. However, if you’re not a fan of ships as a setting, this one might not be for you.
I found Sea Wife to be a thoughtful, intriguing, haunting novel with a captivating setting. I’d recommend this book to pretty much any reader, especially those who gravitate towards thoughtful prose and quiet, small-scale stories that act as a microcosm through which to view the world at large.
You can find this review and more at Novel Notions.
“Where does a mistake begin?”
This is the opening line of Amity Gaige’s newest novel, Sea Wife. We know from the very beginning that something terrible has happened. We just don’t know the specifics of what or how. The story is told largely from two perspectives: Juliet in the present and her husband, Michael, in the past through the captain’s log he kept during their sailing year. There are a few different mysteries woven through the plot, but I felt that the story largely centers around what makes a marriage, and what ends one. Sea Wife is a deep, beautifully written novel with enough pace to the plot to maintain investment while also discussing timeless topics in fresh ways.
“Tears or sweat—so many stories end in salt water.”
Michael is determined to take his family on a year-long sailing trip, to get away from modern American life and consumer culture and just live life to the very fullest. Juliet is struggling: as a mother, as a wife, as a doctoral candidate, and a human being. And Michael believes with his whole being that this trip could be exactly what Juliet needs to combat her depression. Juliet acquiesces and, for better or worse, the couple and their two young children embark on the experience of a lifetime.
“Everyone is hard to love, if you do it for long enough.”
So many difficult topics are addressed within this novel. How a difference in political opinion and worldview can put incredible strain on a marriage. How trauma never goes away, no matter how many years you put between it and yourself. How kids are so much more resilient and brave and hardy than we often give them credit for. How just because loving someone becomes difficult doesn’t mean that it’s not worth the struggle. There are no easy answers, and Gaige doesn’t even try to put forth any. Instead, she captures the importance of questioning, and how vital a role said questioning plays in an individual’s mental health and in the longevity of any relationship.
“Because love is tidal; it goes out, it comes in, it goes out.”
The rare inclusions of a third perspective, their daughter Sybil’s, were jarring but sweet. She brought an added innocence to the novel. It’s easy to present a precocious child as selfish or obnoxious or glib, but Gaige fleshes Sybil out just as thoroughly as she does Juliet and Michael. Smart but kind, creative but observant, Sybil ended up being my favorite character, though I loved them all.
“…children grow by inches and the rest of us inch toward the end.”
Things get very meta as the plot progresses and we see Juliet’s interaction with Michael’s logbook. I love the framework of a book within a book, and this was a very different usage of that trope. However, it took me a bit to adjust to the (very abrupt) transitions between perspectives. Until I found the book’s rhythm, each transition was repeated whiplash. This is a case where having access to the audiobook is very helpful, as each perspective is voiced by a different person. I simultaneously read this book via audio and ebook, and that combination made for an incredibly immersive experience.
“Our losses will never be done with us. They have endless patience.”
Gaige did a great job presenting both sides of this political war between spouses. Both arguments were perfectly rational within the minds that housed them, so much so that the opposite party had no room in said mind for the other person’s argument. That’s why they could never understand one another: there was no room for understanding. This vast schism between their worldviews made for a lot of added tension, both in the novel and in the marriage it presented.
“It’s true—history is written by the victors. That’s why we need poets. To sing of the defeats.”
I love what Gaige has to say about poetry specifically and art as a whole through Juliet. These are the passages that resonated the most deeply with me. Juliet’s relationship with poetry, how it served as both solace and accuser, is fascinating. That’s a similar relationship to the one I have with art, specifically music. Art is both a window and a mirror, and Gaige demonstrated that beautifully.
“I think you love your pain. It’s your poetry.”
Sea Wife is insanely well written. The hardest thing I’ve done all week was narrowing down the dozens upon dozens of passages I highlighted into a manageable amount to include in this review. Gaige has a gorgeous way of describing things, both tangible objects and intangible ideas, both nature and human nature. But yet again, this is another in the slew of new releases that seems morally opposed to the use of quotation marks. I can understand it in a way, as we’re getting the story from the minds of those who endured it, but it still throws me off. I don’t want quotation marks to go out of style. I like quotation marks, dang it.
“Fair, what a useless word. A concept that is relevant only in the rare moments when there is no greater danger than unfairness.”
The only other element I want to mention is the abundance of nautical terminology. I know some people have a difficult time connecting to stories that rely on jargon. That’s not this book. While plenty of such terms are present, they in no way hinder a nautically ignorant reader from sinking into the story. However, if you’re not a fan of ships as a setting, this one might not be for you.
“The wind laughed. But the sea and I, we howled.”
I found Sea Wife to be a thoughtful, intriguing, haunting novel with a captivating setting. I’d recommend this book to pretty much any reader, especially those who gravitate towards thoughtful prose and quiet, small-scale stories that act as a microcosm through which to view the world at large.
You can find this review and more at Novel Notions.
April 25, 2020
Thanks to Knopf Books for this book, which I won in a Goodreads Giveaway. This is my honest review.
If you have dreams of sailing around the world, this book will cure you.
This book sounded like a home run. Couple decides to set sail for a year with their kids amidst their strained marriage. We know at the outset that the husband did not return. It sounded dark and exciting.
What it was instead was a plodding exploration into depression and libertarianism. I didn't like either Juliet or Michael, although Sybil was charming and disarming. Scenes of literal paradise should've rescued the story, but they were too few and far between. There's also a lot of sailing terminology as well as foreign words in Guna, a local language to the Guna Yala archipelago, neither of which are fully explained so the reader has to guess.
The story is told in Juliet's first-person, present-day account and in Michael's ship's logs, which are like long-winded journals. Seriously, how did he find so much time to write with a ship to sail? Less information in more of an actual log might've been more interesting and intriguing. At times the journal-logs are written in the present tense, which wasn't realistic at all - you wouldn't write that way in real life.
There's also a bit of a side plot with tension and mystery, never fully clear, that resolves strangely in what can only be called an appendix of writings.
It felt as though the author wanted to write about the 2016 election, but didn't want to take it head on, so she developed this story to explain the dangerous viewpoint of not wanting to rely at all on the government. You don't really even get into that into maybe a third of the way into the book, when Michael starts talking about his views, and at that just barely.
Overall, not a satisfying reading experience.
If you have dreams of sailing around the world, this book will cure you.
This book sounded like a home run. Couple decides to set sail for a year with their kids amidst their strained marriage. We know at the outset that the husband did not return. It sounded dark and exciting.
What it was instead was a plodding exploration into depression and libertarianism. I didn't like either Juliet or Michael, although Sybil was charming and disarming. Scenes of literal paradise should've rescued the story, but they were too few and far between. There's also a lot of sailing terminology as well as foreign words in Guna, a local language to the Guna Yala archipelago, neither of which are fully explained so the reader has to guess.
The story is told in Juliet's first-person, present-day account and in Michael's ship's logs, which are like long-winded journals. Seriously, how did he find so much time to write with a ship to sail? Less information in more of an actual log might've been more interesting and intriguing. At times the journal-logs are written in the present tense, which wasn't realistic at all - you wouldn't write that way in real life.
There's also a bit of a side plot with tension and mystery, never fully clear, that resolves strangely in what can only be called an appendix of writings.
It felt as though the author wanted to write about the 2016 election, but didn't want to take it head on, so she developed this story to explain the dangerous viewpoint of not wanting to rely at all on the government. You don't really even get into that into maybe a third of the way into the book, when Michael starts talking about his views, and at that just barely.
Overall, not a satisfying reading experience.
July 30, 2020
This was so tense! Not least because some of the characters' experiences (not the terrifying bits) were very familiar. Juliet agrees (finally) to a year long sailing trip to a remote part of the Caribbean with her husband Michael and two young children. Of course, things go wrong both on the boat, and with their already failing marriage. The story is told mostly from Juliet's point of view, having returned home to America without Michael, while his story is revealed via the ship's log, which Juliet is reading. I wasn't completely sure about how Gaige chose to end the book, but the scenes on the boat, and back home with her children were wonderful and often very moving or scary. (My first husband's greatest love was sailing, and eventually I agreed to him buying a 42ft sailing boat when our children were very young. It didn't end well...)
June 25, 2025
3.5 rounded up
Michael wants to escape the daily grind of showing up to a job he doesn’t love, while Juliet wrestles with the idea that she’s made a mistake in life, possibly in love. When Michael brings up the idea of a boat, a year at sea, Juliet thinks it’s the craziest idea he's ever had, but eventually she says yes, even though she knows nothing about sailing. Amity Gaige shows us how different these two people are and delves deeply into the complexities of their marriage. Gaige strikes a note that may resonate with many readers when she writes about how Michael and Juliet are seldom in lockstep. Will being on a boat at sea give them the time and space to repair their relationship? How will it affect seven-year-old Sybil and three-year-old George?
This is true loneliness, I thought. And then I realized that the loneliness was not new at all. That, in fact, I had been lonely for a long time. Because? Because my husband and I did not know each other. We did not know how to help each other or work together. And yet our fates were bound. By a theory. I mean our marriage. The arrangement was illogical.
Juliet deals with depression after the birth of each of her two children. She’d been working on a dissertation about confessional poetry, but that quickly slides into the background against the immediacy of caring for her children. A past trauma casts a dark shadow over her capacity to be a wife and mother.
The story is written from Juliet’s first-person perspective, but Michael kept a ship’s log, which he also uses as a diary, which gives much insight into his viewpoint on life, his marriage, politics, and parenting. Michael is opinionated and industrious. On the boat, he stays busy sailing and caring for what he calls his “home.” The busy work of the boat is different from his life before, when the children were going to bed soon after he got home from work. His wife and children are part of his day. Now, he always has time for them.
I tried. I tried to hold the hurt with her. But living w/ a depressed person is hard. It’s like being married to the tide. A depressed person keeps changing. When you leave the room, things are OK, but when you return, she’s crying. You never know quite where the depressed person is. I mean, you can’t anticipate where she is going to be next.
Michael romanticises the sea and what it will mean to his family. I understand where he’s coming from. Modern life is too fast and leaves little time for families to spend together. On the sea, with no distractions, there was only time together. Of course, something happens while they’re out there on the sea. Gaige creates foreshadowing and tension leading to this moment.
I loved some of Gaige’s descriptions of the family’s life aboard ship, of the sea and its various moods, and ports of call. I made the mistake of picking up a non-fiction book to read in parallel with this book. Some people can do that. For me, the mood of this book was disturbed, and I found myself not as engaged with the second half. This had nothing to do with Gaige's excellent writing.
Michael wants to escape the daily grind of showing up to a job he doesn’t love, while Juliet wrestles with the idea that she’s made a mistake in life, possibly in love. When Michael brings up the idea of a boat, a year at sea, Juliet thinks it’s the craziest idea he's ever had, but eventually she says yes, even though she knows nothing about sailing. Amity Gaige shows us how different these two people are and delves deeply into the complexities of their marriage. Gaige strikes a note that may resonate with many readers when she writes about how Michael and Juliet are seldom in lockstep. Will being on a boat at sea give them the time and space to repair their relationship? How will it affect seven-year-old Sybil and three-year-old George?
This is true loneliness, I thought. And then I realized that the loneliness was not new at all. That, in fact, I had been lonely for a long time. Because? Because my husband and I did not know each other. We did not know how to help each other or work together. And yet our fates were bound. By a theory. I mean our marriage. The arrangement was illogical.
Juliet deals with depression after the birth of each of her two children. She’d been working on a dissertation about confessional poetry, but that quickly slides into the background against the immediacy of caring for her children. A past trauma casts a dark shadow over her capacity to be a wife and mother.
The story is written from Juliet’s first-person perspective, but Michael kept a ship’s log, which he also uses as a diary, which gives much insight into his viewpoint on life, his marriage, politics, and parenting. Michael is opinionated and industrious. On the boat, he stays busy sailing and caring for what he calls his “home.” The busy work of the boat is different from his life before, when the children were going to bed soon after he got home from work. His wife and children are part of his day. Now, he always has time for them.
I tried. I tried to hold the hurt with her. But living w/ a depressed person is hard. It’s like being married to the tide. A depressed person keeps changing. When you leave the room, things are OK, but when you return, she’s crying. You never know quite where the depressed person is. I mean, you can’t anticipate where she is going to be next.
Michael romanticises the sea and what it will mean to his family. I understand where he’s coming from. Modern life is too fast and leaves little time for families to spend together. On the sea, with no distractions, there was only time together. Of course, something happens while they’re out there on the sea. Gaige creates foreshadowing and tension leading to this moment.
I loved some of Gaige’s descriptions of the family’s life aboard ship, of the sea and its various moods, and ports of call. I made the mistake of picking up a non-fiction book to read in parallel with this book. Some people can do that. For me, the mood of this book was disturbed, and I found myself not as engaged with the second half. This had nothing to do with Gaige's excellent writing.
May 13, 2020
This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, and it’s very possible that such high expectations contributed to my unfortunate disappointment. We follow a family embarking on a year at sea. The contrast between their isolation from society and their claustrophobic family dynamic exposes underlying issues between the parents. Namely, fundamentally different political beliefs, the lasting impact of childhood trauma, and resentment concerning gender roles.
I love this narrative setup and the vast thematic potential it presents. Sadly, much of the novel is spent meandering around these topics with little sense of drive or direction. The plot itself is presented to us via both parents’ perspectives; the journal Michael kept during their journey, and Juliet’s first-person narration in the present day. Because of this framing device, there’s little tension regarding how everything will turn out, as it’s all pretty clear from the off. But with commentary on the book’s many themes also largely surface level, I was often left to wonder what point the author was even trying to make.
Indeed, I think one of the book’s greatest issues is that it doesn’t know what kind of novel it wants to be. Its marketing sets it up as a thrilling page-turner, but I found this to be far from true, with much of the book given over to rather pedestrian descriptions of the practicalities of life at sea. It tries to offer meaningful social commentary on the impact that politics can have on relationships, but never seems to stick any kind of landing on this front. It tries to examine the difficulty of overcoming supressed childhood trauma, but again, it introduces the idea too late and fails to dive very deep. At one point, it takes a rather bizarre shift towards murder-mystery, though this thread wraps up just as quickly (and anti-climactically) as it appears. And to top it off, the final chapter is a somewhat experimental multi-media affair that felt like a bizarrely dry and unsatisfying note to end on.
Overcoming frustrations with the plot may have been easier had the characters really shone (I do think it also wants to be a character study, after all), but they often suffered from the common issue of not sounding like real people (especially the 7-year-old daughter). This, coupled with a lack of a satisfying end for most of their arcs, stopped me from ever feeling invested in them or their problems.
On a more positive note, I will say the author’s prose is very readable, she paints vivid pictures of life at sea, and though she failed to explore them with the kind of depth and impact I hoped for, the themes she touches on are very interesting and topical. However, I can’t deny feeling distinctly underwhelmed overall, left to ponder what could have been.
Thank you to the publisher for a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
I love this narrative setup and the vast thematic potential it presents. Sadly, much of the novel is spent meandering around these topics with little sense of drive or direction. The plot itself is presented to us via both parents’ perspectives; the journal Michael kept during their journey, and Juliet’s first-person narration in the present day. Because of this framing device, there’s little tension regarding how everything will turn out, as it’s all pretty clear from the off. But with commentary on the book’s many themes also largely surface level, I was often left to wonder what point the author was even trying to make.
Indeed, I think one of the book’s greatest issues is that it doesn’t know what kind of novel it wants to be. Its marketing sets it up as a thrilling page-turner, but I found this to be far from true, with much of the book given over to rather pedestrian descriptions of the practicalities of life at sea. It tries to offer meaningful social commentary on the impact that politics can have on relationships, but never seems to stick any kind of landing on this front. It tries to examine the difficulty of overcoming supressed childhood trauma, but again, it introduces the idea too late and fails to dive very deep. At one point, it takes a rather bizarre shift towards murder-mystery, though this thread wraps up just as quickly (and anti-climactically) as it appears. And to top it off, the final chapter is a somewhat experimental multi-media affair that felt like a bizarrely dry and unsatisfying note to end on.
Overcoming frustrations with the plot may have been easier had the characters really shone (I do think it also wants to be a character study, after all), but they often suffered from the common issue of not sounding like real people (especially the 7-year-old daughter). This, coupled with a lack of a satisfying end for most of their arcs, stopped me from ever feeling invested in them or their problems.
On a more positive note, I will say the author’s prose is very readable, she paints vivid pictures of life at sea, and though she failed to explore them with the kind of depth and impact I hoped for, the themes she touches on are very interesting and topical. However, I can’t deny feeling distinctly underwhelmed overall, left to ponder what could have been.
Thank you to the publisher for a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
June 16, 2020
Who’s fault is it if I was expecting this to be something it isn’t? Mine! All mine!
I was absolutely riveted for 85% of the book. I loved the format of various points of view (done in various voices for the audible). There are some intense scenes on the sea and I was experiencing that wonderful/awful scary feel of a really good adventure book.
But then....
I don’t want to say any more as I don’t want to spoil or even hint at what didn’t work for me. But my advice: don’t assume this is another in the long line of recent surprise shocker endings. Just “enjoy” your adventure on the sea.
What could possibly go wrong?
I was absolutely riveted for 85% of the book. I loved the format of various points of view (done in various voices for the audible). There are some intense scenes on the sea and I was experiencing that wonderful/awful scary feel of a really good adventure book.
But then....
I don’t want to say any more as I don’t want to spoil or even hint at what didn’t work for me. But my advice: don’t assume this is another in the long line of recent surprise shocker endings. Just “enjoy” your adventure on the sea.
What could possibly go wrong?
April 3, 2021
“Fra un minuto intraprenderemo la nuova tappa del nostro incredibile viaggio. Condurremo la barca nel vento e isseremo la randa. E a quel punto sentiremo l’antico richiamo. Ci collegheremo al cosmo.”
Ecco la decisione che può cambiare la vita. Lasciare tutto, per un anno, abbandonare la terraferma per veleggiare in mare aperto. Vivere in un piccolo guscio di noce tra le onde: Michael, Juliet e i loro due figli, Sybil, sette anni e George, detto Pasticcio, di anni tre.
Due narrazioni principali: quella di Juliet, che sta rievocando tutta la storia dal tranquillo riparo di un armadio a muro, e quella di Michael che scrive giorno per giorno il diario di bordo della loro avventura.
Un protagonista assoluto: il mare. Anzi due: il mare e la barca a vela. Cioè godimento puro per tutti i velisti o anche per chi ha soltanto assaggiato che cosa vuol dire condividere uno spazio limitato e confrontarsi con le forze della natura. Poche esperienze al mondo riescono a mettere qualcuno davanti a se stesso come questa.
Ma il viaggio è avvincente anche per chi non ha esperienza di vela : sarà la scrittura di Amity Gaige a renderlo vivo e audace. Un viaggio introspettivo al cospetto del mare e del vento.
Michael è un uomo concreto, dall’infaticabile energia, erede del mito americano del self-made man, ma ormai stanco di fare un lavoro arido, senza anima, desideroso di cambiare prospettiva, cambiare sguardo, riprendere in mano il timone della sua vita, salvare i suoi sogni e forse anche il suo barcollante matrimonio.
Juliet è una poetessa. Però la sua tesi su Anne Sexton non ha mai visto la luce. Il matrimonio, i bambini, si sa. Ma non c’è solo questo. Ci sono degli ostacoli più profondi. Un trauma infantile che continua a mandare i suoi tetri riverberi. Una personalità sfaccettata, complessa, quella di Juliet; la depressione in agguato, la relazione con il marito in costante pericolo. E adesso quel voler lasciare tutto per il mare, che follia. Con due bambini piccoli poi.
Eppure partiranno. Sarà una sfida radicale che li metterà uno davanti all’altra ed entrambi al cospetto di se stessi e li indurrà a una conoscenza di sé completamente nuova, quella che soltanto il silenzio, l’assenza di contatti umani, l’abolizione del surplus civile, il confronto con le forze della natura può suscitare.
Governare la barca è tutto ciò che importa.
Ma la barca siamo anche noi, è quello che di noi ci è ignoto o ci appare ingovernabile. Quello che si manifesta quando tutto intorno è soltanto infinita distesa d’acqua, infinito cielo, sfavillio di stelle e scintillanti increspature d’onda, nuvole gonfie di tempesta in arrivo e nessun approdo all’orizzonte.
Vento incessante. Oppure assoluta assenza di vento.
“La mancanza di un qualsiasi soggetto su cui posare lo sguardo sembrava una forma di cecità. È questo. La vita è questo. Un viaggio senza indicazioni. I mari si stendono in ogni direzione.”
Immersi nel paesaggio dell’oceano sconfinato Juliet e Michael conosceranno le loro potenzialità e i loro limiti. Apprenderanno un altro modo di raccontarsi la loro storia e di esplorarne l’ombra.
“Per un po’ mi ero chiesta se ciò che ero diventata negli ultimi anni -scettica, ansiosa, arrabbiata-fosse il mio vero io o piuttosto la distorsione prodotta da una storia deformante.
Ma in mare, come la studiosa che verga il suo ultimo appunto, non avevo nulla che mi impedisse di rispondere a questa domanda, nulla che ostacolasse la mia conoscenza di me stessa. C’era solo un orizzonte sempre più vasto, vuoto in ogni direzione, un’assenza di interferenze, una prospettiva senza mediazioni: il puro, terrificante io.”
Questo libro è un viaggio strepitoso.
Ecco la decisione che può cambiare la vita. Lasciare tutto, per un anno, abbandonare la terraferma per veleggiare in mare aperto. Vivere in un piccolo guscio di noce tra le onde: Michael, Juliet e i loro due figli, Sybil, sette anni e George, detto Pasticcio, di anni tre.
Due narrazioni principali: quella di Juliet, che sta rievocando tutta la storia dal tranquillo riparo di un armadio a muro, e quella di Michael che scrive giorno per giorno il diario di bordo della loro avventura.
Un protagonista assoluto: il mare. Anzi due: il mare e la barca a vela. Cioè godimento puro per tutti i velisti o anche per chi ha soltanto assaggiato che cosa vuol dire condividere uno spazio limitato e confrontarsi con le forze della natura. Poche esperienze al mondo riescono a mettere qualcuno davanti a se stesso come questa.
Ma il viaggio è avvincente anche per chi non ha esperienza di vela : sarà la scrittura di Amity Gaige a renderlo vivo e audace. Un viaggio introspettivo al cospetto del mare e del vento.
Michael è un uomo concreto, dall’infaticabile energia, erede del mito americano del self-made man, ma ormai stanco di fare un lavoro arido, senza anima, desideroso di cambiare prospettiva, cambiare sguardo, riprendere in mano il timone della sua vita, salvare i suoi sogni e forse anche il suo barcollante matrimonio.
Juliet è una poetessa. Però la sua tesi su Anne Sexton non ha mai visto la luce. Il matrimonio, i bambini, si sa. Ma non c’è solo questo. Ci sono degli ostacoli più profondi. Un trauma infantile che continua a mandare i suoi tetri riverberi. Una personalità sfaccettata, complessa, quella di Juliet; la depressione in agguato, la relazione con il marito in costante pericolo. E adesso quel voler lasciare tutto per il mare, che follia. Con due bambini piccoli poi.
Eppure partiranno. Sarà una sfida radicale che li metterà uno davanti all’altra ed entrambi al cospetto di se stessi e li indurrà a una conoscenza di sé completamente nuova, quella che soltanto il silenzio, l’assenza di contatti umani, l’abolizione del surplus civile, il confronto con le forze della natura può suscitare.
Governare la barca è tutto ciò che importa.
Ma la barca siamo anche noi, è quello che di noi ci è ignoto o ci appare ingovernabile. Quello che si manifesta quando tutto intorno è soltanto infinita distesa d’acqua, infinito cielo, sfavillio di stelle e scintillanti increspature d’onda, nuvole gonfie di tempesta in arrivo e nessun approdo all’orizzonte.
Vento incessante. Oppure assoluta assenza di vento.
“La mancanza di un qualsiasi soggetto su cui posare lo sguardo sembrava una forma di cecità. È questo. La vita è questo. Un viaggio senza indicazioni. I mari si stendono in ogni direzione.”
Immersi nel paesaggio dell’oceano sconfinato Juliet e Michael conosceranno le loro potenzialità e i loro limiti. Apprenderanno un altro modo di raccontarsi la loro storia e di esplorarne l’ombra.
“Per un po’ mi ero chiesta se ciò che ero diventata negli ultimi anni -scettica, ansiosa, arrabbiata-fosse il mio vero io o piuttosto la distorsione prodotta da una storia deformante.
Ma in mare, come la studiosa che verga il suo ultimo appunto, non avevo nulla che mi impedisse di rispondere a questa domanda, nulla che ostacolasse la mia conoscenza di me stessa. C’era solo un orizzonte sempre più vasto, vuoto in ogni direzione, un’assenza di interferenze, una prospettiva senza mediazioni: il puro, terrificante io.”
Questo libro è un viaggio strepitoso.
May 14, 2020
Sea Wife is a really good story, well told. Michael and Juliet leave suburban life and go sailing for a year with their two young children. Told mostly by Juliet, the story shifts between daily life before the trip, on the boat, and after the journey. Juliet didn’t finish her PhD dissertation about Anne Sexton. She sometimes has a serious problem with depression. Michael’s sections are his Captain’s Log, which also reads like a diary/journal about his feelings. A few sections are in the 7-year old girl’s voice; she is an interesting character. The sections work together well. It was good to get different points of view.
Their marriage has issues. Juliet is liberal, Michael voted for Trump and inherited very self-reliant/anti-government views from his father. It took a long time in their relationship for these differences in opinion to matter, but once they did, Juliet has a hard time forgiving him. At one point I was concerned that too much of the book would become a dialectic discussion about politics. Their disagreements often stem from this issue, but it is only hammered on in one section. I like the way Juliet summed Michael up (p. 77). “He believed in self-reliance above all. But how does such a man accept his place in a family – a loud, disorderly, many-fated whirligig, a force by which each member is alternately nurtured and deformed?”
Several boxes are checked on social issues. All of the characters are Caucasian, but race is minimally addressed in Michael’s journal where he opines on how he recognizes the rewards of his whiteness, but writes about his feelings about the constant reminder that he is an “exploiter/polluter/oppressor”. There is also a child abuse issue and its impact on Juliet’s life and her relationship with her mother. Grief was handled well.
The story is compelling. I loved the descriptions of their sailing life. There is a scary storm early in the book, and tension is built because we know something bad will happen later. The writing is fine, mostly straightforward and not showy, but there are lyrical descriptions of the ocean, the skies, and the weather.
I enjoyed Sea Wife very much. I can imagine that readers may become impatient with aspects of the book, especially the amount of writing about depression and political differences, but it worked for me.
I received a free Uncorrected Bound Proof of the novel, which is scheduled to be published in May.
Addendum. I just finished another book - St. Ivo - which also focused on a marriage with problems. I find it interesting to compare them. Because Sea Wife was told in first person,there isn’t a lot of dialogue; rather, the two characters described and analyze their relationship. This was more intellectual and distanced me more than in St. Ivo where the dialogue sounded very real, and pulled me in more.
Their marriage has issues. Juliet is liberal, Michael voted for Trump and inherited very self-reliant/anti-government views from his father. It took a long time in their relationship for these differences in opinion to matter, but once they did, Juliet has a hard time forgiving him. At one point I was concerned that too much of the book would become a dialectic discussion about politics. Their disagreements often stem from this issue, but it is only hammered on in one section. I like the way Juliet summed Michael up (p. 77). “He believed in self-reliance above all. But how does such a man accept his place in a family – a loud, disorderly, many-fated whirligig, a force by which each member is alternately nurtured and deformed?”
Several boxes are checked on social issues. All of the characters are Caucasian, but race is minimally addressed in Michael’s journal where he opines on how he recognizes the rewards of his whiteness, but writes about his feelings about the constant reminder that he is an “exploiter/polluter/oppressor”. There is also a child abuse issue and its impact on Juliet’s life and her relationship with her mother. Grief was handled well.
The story is compelling. I loved the descriptions of their sailing life. There is a scary storm early in the book, and tension is built because we know something bad will happen later. The writing is fine, mostly straightforward and not showy, but there are lyrical descriptions of the ocean, the skies, and the weather.
I enjoyed Sea Wife very much. I can imagine that readers may become impatient with aspects of the book, especially the amount of writing about depression and political differences, but it worked for me.
I received a free Uncorrected Bound Proof of the novel, which is scheduled to be published in May.
Addendum. I just finished another book - St. Ivo - which also focused on a marriage with problems. I find it interesting to compare them. Because Sea Wife was told in first person,there isn’t a lot of dialogue; rather, the two characters described and analyze their relationship. This was more intellectual and distanced me more than in St. Ivo where the dialogue sounded very real, and pulled me in more.
May 31, 2020
People think they’re running from their problems... But those people are not running from problems. They just want different problems. They don’t want the problems of paperwork and traffic and political correctness. They want the problems of wind and weather. The problem of which way to go.
Amity Gaige
Sea Wife
There is so much to say about this book that literally took me by storm about 3 days ago. First, I’ve not read a book this quickly in years. From the moment I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down. And there is a lot more going on here than a family’s sea voyage, so without spoilers here are my thoughts.
Ever since reading Dove as a child, I've been drawn to stories of survival at sea. But reader beware, this IS literary fiction, so it’s more than a sailing log.
The author is an absolute master at building suspense; I could not turn pages fast enough. I’ve gone back and forth about what this book really is: Thriller? Mystery Literary Fiction? I will go out on a ledge and create my own genre here - SEA NOIR.
At its core, this is the story of a marriage in trouble and there are big themes: postpartum depression, sexual abuse, marital distress, and even politics. And, a sail around the world is not the cure for an ailing marriage, so we spend a lot of time in the heads of Juliet and Michael.
I loved the structure (dual timelines - Juliet’s diary and Michael’s sailing log) and for 3/4 of the book, I was spellbound. But I’m going to quote my husband as he watched my expression after I read the last page — “what separates a good author from a great author is the ability to write the end.” The ending of this book let me down. I read all the reviews after I finished and some people thought it genius and others felt like I did - I was waiting for a twist that never came. I felt as though the entire book built towards a twist that was dropped.
4 stars because I did love it. But the ending is where the 5th star lost out.
Amity Gaige
Sea Wife
There is so much to say about this book that literally took me by storm about 3 days ago. First, I’ve not read a book this quickly in years. From the moment I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down. And there is a lot more going on here than a family’s sea voyage, so without spoilers here are my thoughts.
Ever since reading Dove as a child, I've been drawn to stories of survival at sea. But reader beware, this IS literary fiction, so it’s more than a sailing log.
The author is an absolute master at building suspense; I could not turn pages fast enough. I’ve gone back and forth about what this book really is: Thriller? Mystery Literary Fiction? I will go out on a ledge and create my own genre here - SEA NOIR.
At its core, this is the story of a marriage in trouble and there are big themes: postpartum depression, sexual abuse, marital distress, and even politics. And, a sail around the world is not the cure for an ailing marriage, so we spend a lot of time in the heads of Juliet and Michael.
I loved the structure (dual timelines - Juliet’s diary and Michael’s sailing log) and for 3/4 of the book, I was spellbound. But I’m going to quote my husband as he watched my expression after I read the last page — “what separates a good author from a great author is the ability to write the end.” The ending of this book let me down. I read all the reviews after I finished and some people thought it genius and others felt like I did - I was waiting for a twist that never came. I felt as though the entire book built towards a twist that was dropped.
4 stars because I did love it. But the ending is where the 5th star lost out.
May 15, 2020
A greater landlubber cannot be found, I think, than me. So this book was a surprise as its purpose and direction unfolded.
I love oceans, water and all that goes with it. It's just boats, sails, jibs and starboards and ports are all in a basket in my brain, unsorted and unlabeled. As I began the tale of Juliet and Michael and their two munchkins, I went forward with a troubled heart and a substantial body of ignorance on the primary topics. Would that topple me from the pages of this tale?
This generous author lends enough handrails to unsailorly readers like me to help one stay braced at the launch and action of this family, with its hint of dangerous relationships and risky challenges and a love between all of them that helps them meet every difficult circumstance with hope and support. I found a great deal of satisfaction in the redeemability granted to many characters that had erred early in their lives.
I did have moments of trepidation - I've had a close family member die of drowning, and tend to shy away from stories of such events. It was a relief to me as the story became involved in storms and raging waters that this was not something I needed to worry about.
The point of view switches primarily between the husband and wife, and a few times I had to go back and pick up the thread because it wasn't completely clear who was who. Once I hit the middle of the book, though, I didn't put the book down, as my full attention was riveted, and I was glued to each page, including the poetry at the end.
3.5 stars rounded to 4, washed up in seafoam, seaweed and sand dollars. (I'm thinking Neskowin Beach, Oregon coast. . . .)
A sincere thank you to Amity Gaige, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review.
I love oceans, water and all that goes with it. It's just boats, sails, jibs and starboards and ports are all in a basket in my brain, unsorted and unlabeled. As I began the tale of Juliet and Michael and their two munchkins, I went forward with a troubled heart and a substantial body of ignorance on the primary topics. Would that topple me from the pages of this tale?
This generous author lends enough handrails to unsailorly readers like me to help one stay braced at the launch and action of this family, with its hint of dangerous relationships and risky challenges and a love between all of them that helps them meet every difficult circumstance with hope and support. I found a great deal of satisfaction in the redeemability granted to many characters that had erred early in their lives.
I did have moments of trepidation - I've had a close family member die of drowning, and tend to shy away from stories of such events. It was a relief to me as the story became involved in storms and raging waters that this was not something I needed to worry about.
The point of view switches primarily between the husband and wife, and a few times I had to go back and pick up the thread because it wasn't completely clear who was who. Once I hit the middle of the book, though, I didn't put the book down, as my full attention was riveted, and I was glued to each page, including the poetry at the end.
3.5 stars rounded to 4, washed up in seafoam, seaweed and sand dollars. (I'm thinking Neskowin Beach, Oregon coast. . . .)
A sincere thank you to Amity Gaige, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review.
January 25, 2021
michael/juliet & their small children decide to live at sea for a year in hopes of reconnecting with one another. as their adventure begins & gains momentum we learn the backstory of the family (via first person account from juliet & the ship's log from michael). this is a little bit who's afraid of virgina wolf & Revolutionary Road with moments of beauty mixed in. i liked the clever references to anne carson that called out gender roles undermining michael/juliet's marriage but . sea wife will appeal to readers who are interested in the nuts & bolts of marriage or looking to read a meditation on family life.
January 9, 2024
As the story opens, Juliet is back in Connecticut after returning from sailing the Caribbean with her husband and two children. The family had given up their “normal” life, bought a boat in Panama, and spent months at sea, stopping in various harbors to restock supplies. Their children, seven-year-old Sybil and two-year-old George loved the sea life. Juliet had been depressed since her children arrived. She and her husband Michael had been experiencing marital problems and have found themselves on opposite sides of the political divide.
We know something happened on the trip but do not know any specifics. The story flashes back, alternating Juliet’s recollections with Michael’s ship’s log entries. Details are gradually revealed. The narrative feels intimate, as if Juliet is talking directly to the reader, confiding the secrets of her life. The descriptions of the Caribbean are beautifully rendered. I almost felt like I was traveling on board with their family. It kept my interest throughout, and it was hard to put it down. Unfortunately, the last ten percent or so of the book goes off in a strange direction and gets a bit jumbled. I cannot remember how this book landed on my reading list, but I am glad I added it.
We know something happened on the trip but do not know any specifics. The story flashes back, alternating Juliet’s recollections with Michael’s ship’s log entries. Details are gradually revealed. The narrative feels intimate, as if Juliet is talking directly to the reader, confiding the secrets of her life. The descriptions of the Caribbean are beautifully rendered. I almost felt like I was traveling on board with their family. It kept my interest throughout, and it was hard to put it down. Unfortunately, the last ten percent or so of the book goes off in a strange direction and gets a bit jumbled. I cannot remember how this book landed on my reading list, but I am glad I added it.
May 20, 2025
3.75 🛟 🛟 🛟 🛟
September 2, 2020
3and a half stars. Sea Wife is I assume referring to the boat in this book, named Juliet after the wife in the family who take to the sea for a year. It’s Michael, the husbands idea and they have two children, 7yo Sybil, and 3yo George. The marriage is rocky, Juliet suffers depression, Michael has entered into an unwise loan to buy the boat. What could go wrong? Well something does, it’s obvious from the start , it’s just not obvious what happened.
I did find the book engrossing, the adult characters are mostly unlikeable, the kids adorable. The structure of the book is difficult to get into to start with, it’s first person narratives jump from Michael to Juliet and occasionally Sybil, with Michael’s log book entries as well, and in time so it is a bit confusing till the flow becomes more obvious.
As I’m not a boat person, the technical sailing bits went over my head but the descriptions of the islands were lovely. There’s some poetry as well from Anne Sexton that Juliet was doing a dissertation on. Also some politics which I found distracting from the story.
It’s a good read but the ending I found a bit underwhelming.
I did find the book engrossing, the adult characters are mostly unlikeable, the kids adorable. The structure of the book is difficult to get into to start with, it’s first person narratives jump from Michael to Juliet and occasionally Sybil, with Michael’s log book entries as well, and in time so it is a bit confusing till the flow becomes more obvious.
As I’m not a boat person, the technical sailing bits went over my head but the descriptions of the islands were lovely. There’s some poetry as well from Anne Sexton that Juliet was doing a dissertation on. Also some politics which I found distracting from the story.
It’s a good read but the ending I found a bit underwhelming.
March 3, 2020
Sea Wife by Amity Gage is the story of a marriage, and a family, and an adventure. It is a story about depression, and the lasting repercussions of childhood trauma. It is also a story about the importance of communication. and being prepared, and the unforgiving wilderness of the sea. Told in alternating voices and overlapping timelines - Juliet provides her side of the story, and Michael’s voice is mostly revealed in his ship’s log entries - we get each spouse’s point of view as well as crucial pieces of information about what each thinks and believes and hopes for in a slow unfolding, not unlike a long, leisurely sail which eventually becomes more like a wild squall as the momentum builds. This is as much an adventure story as it is a cautionary tale, and it is written with lyrical prose and an urgency felt right from the very beginning.
January 16, 2021
A lesson learned is that if Ann Kingman (of the now defunct Books on the Nightstand podcast) recommends a book, you should just go get it and read it right away. She has pointed me in the right direction every time (The Sparrow and A Little Life) and when she and Michael Kindness did a special episode in the midst of the pandemic she touted Sea Wife, which I did order but kept on false starting until finally I forced myself to push through and read this. And as expected it was a riveting literary thriller that manages to be a page turner while exploring deep questions about domesticity and the difficulties of marriage. Won't give away too many details, but learned a lot about sailing and also made me contemplative about pretty personal questions.
A wonderful book that people should make an effort to pick up (paperback is out on March 2nd!)
A wonderful book that people should make an effort to pick up (paperback is out on March 2nd!)
May 9, 2021
There was a lot I liked about this book but an equal amount of confusing story lines and sentences that came out of left field. It can be intriguing to look back while reading a book to discover alternative meanings and to see parts of the book in a new way, but, in this case, it never became clearer or helped me interpret the author’s intention. This book seemed to try to hard to weave “in” topics into the story- mental illness, marriage discord, politics, financial stability, the power of nature, discovery of self, criminal intrigue- and only a few of them worked. I have read other books with a boat setting and an ominous build-up of disaster that I liked much more- The Lifeboat (Rohan) and Berserk (Mercy) to name a few.
August 21, 2021
A couple with a troubled marriage sets out with their two children to live on a sailboat for a year. Quite a few people liked this book but I felt that the book just dragged on and on….. there was a lot of sailing terminology used throughout the book, and if you aren’t familiar with sailing, I wouldn’t recommend reading it. The writing was very confusing as well. There was no indication of who was talking, and it took time to figure out who was talking at any particular time. I did not especially like any of the characters and really didn’t care about what happened to them.
May 30, 2020
This kind of book is a rarity for me: a book I didn’t like till I found nearing the end that I did – very much. Reading a newspaper review persuaded me that the author probably didn’t know enough about sailing or sailors, especially offshore sailing, to write a believable sea story, and my suspicious were aggravated by the husband’s being a Trumpian. (Michael’s inchoate – so seldom get a chance to use that word – political opinions seem a mixture of libertarianism and Nietzscheism.} Wife Juliet is that very familiar figure, the doctoral student who can’t finish her dissertation (on Anne Sexton) turned stay-at-home mom. They have two young children, seven year-old Sibyl and Georgie “Doodle,” three. Most annoyingly, Michael gives them all pseudo-nautical designations of rank. Juliet is “First Mate,” Sibyl is “Bosun” (it’s actually spelled “boatswain”), and “Doodle” is “Deckhand” – of course real ocean sailors don’t indulge in such silliness – only dentists “driving” power cruisers on Long Island Sound. Michael’s mid-life crisis takes of the form of imagining the family going round the world at sea, though fortunately since Juliet has never been on a boat and Michael’s previous experience was day sailing on Lake Eire, they begin with coastal passages in the Caribbean. The tale is narrated to two voices, Juliet speaking in first person after her return to Connecticut and Michael’s very verbose entries in the yacht’s log. The boat is an CSY 44 Walkover (the latter term referring to the cabin layout below deck, not to the boat’s competitive abilities), renamed the Juliet. Definitely too much boat for a couple, especially when one of them doesn’t know how to sail.
For a reader who knows something about sailing boats, the narrative is often disconcerting, especially as the reader for Juliet couldn’t pronounce mainsail, leeward, or Caribbean, and kept referring to the masthead windspeed indicator as the flywheel. Besides his crude political views, Michael’s vocabulary is too often that of a middle-school boy. He refers to being self-absorbed as “being wrapped in my own shit” and small talk as “shooting the shit” (gross!).
The descriptions of sailing and handling the boat were also unconvincing, especially when they run into heavy weather and Juliet is supposed to be reefing the mainsail and helming the boat by herself. But I felt the author made a serious effort to research her subject and introduce realistic detail even if she doesn’t always get their names quite right. But though we know from almost the beginning that the trip will not end entirely well, readers should remain rivetted to discovering the outcome. And I found it surprisingly stirring.
There is an easy test to find out if you have the mentality of offshore sailing in the deep ocean. Download the movie Adrift and watch it at home. That is what Michael should have done. After you’ve watched it, ask yourself if you knew that your passage might turn out like that, would you go? Then, ask yourself, if you can foresee that it definitely will turn out like that, then would you still go? The voyage of the yacht Juliet is not quite so eventful, but at the end I was persuaded that Juliet had undergone a sea change into a real sailor.
For a reader who knows something about sailing boats, the narrative is often disconcerting, especially as the reader for Juliet couldn’t pronounce mainsail, leeward, or Caribbean, and kept referring to the masthead windspeed indicator as the flywheel. Besides his crude political views, Michael’s vocabulary is too often that of a middle-school boy. He refers to being self-absorbed as “being wrapped in my own shit” and small talk as “shooting the shit” (gross!).
The descriptions of sailing and handling the boat were also unconvincing, especially when they run into heavy weather and Juliet is supposed to be reefing the mainsail and helming the boat by herself. But I felt the author made a serious effort to research her subject and introduce realistic detail even if she doesn’t always get their names quite right. But though we know from almost the beginning that the trip will not end entirely well, readers should remain rivetted to discovering the outcome. And I found it surprisingly stirring.
There is an easy test to find out if you have the mentality of offshore sailing in the deep ocean. Download the movie Adrift and watch it at home. That is what Michael should have done. After you’ve watched it, ask yourself if you knew that your passage might turn out like that, would you go? Then, ask yourself, if you can foresee that it definitely will turn out like that, then would you still go? The voyage of the yacht Juliet is not quite so eventful, but at the end I was persuaded that Juliet had undergone a sea change into a real sailor.
October 26, 2019
Wonderful book about a couple with a rocky marriage taking a year out of their life’s to sail a boat around the Caribbean with their two small children. The story is told by the wife as she looks back on the trip and the aftermath and told by the husband in a sea log as the events are happening. Powerful dissection of a complicated marriage.
Read
July 22, 2023A 271 page book that somehow feels like 471. This was a slog. The author doesn’t play the tension right—especially after letting the reader in on the very big event from the start—and the resolution is a fizzling let-down. I can’t believe this has made it onto summer reading lists.
Want to read
April 29, 2020eBook Giveaway Win!
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