Meet the Haddesley family of West Virginia. Three girls, two boys, an ailing father, and a mother who has been absent for a decade. Oh, and a bog, to which they sacrifice the patriarch of the family, in exchange for a bride, for the eldest son.
As the time for the sacrifice draws near, daughter Wenna, who fled the family years ago in an attempt at a normal life, returns to the family home. However, when the ritual fails, and no muddy mate materializes, Wenna sees this as an opportunity to free her siblings from their bizarre life.
Kay Chronister is such an exciting writer. Her previous novel, Desert Creatures, was so original, and beautifully written. The Bog Wife cements her status as a must-read author for me. Her dreamy, hypnotic style kept me turning the pages well past my bedtime.
Each Haddesley family member is so well-developed, and I absolutely adored them all. The tragic, reluctant young patriarch Charlie, who literally has a tree fall on his crotch, holds a special place in my heart.
But on top of all this great character development, and beautiful writing, there is a genuinely rich plot. The reader, much like the Haddesley children, are kept at arm’s length from the “truth”, leaving it up to us to decide what is real and what is fantasy. I could spend hours speculating on what I think happens in this book, which I find incredibly rewarding.
The Bog Wife is a deeply weird, but very accessible novel about family, loyalty, and tradition. Another impressive, original novel from Chronister.
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