Nope, not finishing this piece of ( )

Superb. It really feels like a story taken from the Younger Edda, especially when told through the lens of Willa and Dana. Willa is such a delicious character. She has an interesting mix of being repulsive and benevolent but only in the worst of ways. Dana, on the other hand, is very much maternal and combative to the world around her. Much of the story is centered around these two mothers unwittingly being the catalyst for their family's destruction. This, however, is a small backdrop to all the themes and motifs used to tell an allegorical tale about trying and failing to stay afloat when you are a member of the downtrodden. Another important element is how society treats women and how women rise above that. Diane and Tina, for example, are prime examples of this. Which reminds me of that famous scene in Dolores Clairbourne when Vera says "Sometimes you have to be a high-riding bitch to survive. Sometimes being a bitch is all a woman has to hold onto" Plenty of motifs are present but none is used more consistently than this. Even though I loved the book I was really bummed about the ending. W.T.F, like really? I can't have one slither of hope in this world, you gotta take that away from me too! Overall I was really taken aback by how much I cared for these characters especially Dylan and Gren. (how could you?) and Can you puh-lease write a romance novel? ( )

I love the concept of this book however after multiple attempts to read (over several years), did not find it engaging or what I was looking in a novel at this time. Ultimately I passed the book onto a free library and hope someone finds its rewards. ( )

I liked this modern re- telling based, more or less, on Beowulf. Headley’s stream of consciousness writing is poetic and I enjoyed that (though I did find it challenging at times to figure out who was speaking). I like the word play inherent in the title.
I didn’t like the “new housewives” vibe; I found that very distracting (but, i dunno, maybe that’s in keeping with a Lady’s court). I like the political themes in Headley’s treatment.
And I said this is loosely based on Beowulf. It starts closely aligned (or as much as possible for modernizing) but then deviates it major ways, enough so to undermine the marketing claim that this is a modern re-telling of Beowulf
So maybe just the four and a half stars.
So onto a reread of Gardner’s Grendel, and Headley’s and Tolkien’s interpretations of Beowulf.

Edit: just read Steve Donoghue’s review of Headley’s Beowulf in which he refers to The Mere Wife as “overhyped and underwhelming” which is accurate though I stick by my rating as I found this exploration entertaining. ( )

Read this. The moment you finish your current book, read this. The language is gorgeous, the suburbs are insidious, the mountain is alive, and everyone is a monster and no one is a monster. I might go 4.5 if I could, since I didn't feel deeply emotionally connected to the characters, but that's how I feel reading most classic books. And this will be a classic, I feel. Students could write finals and theses on this. I was wishing I could whip out my pencil and do my English major exercises followed by a discussion.

It's a super hot day and my brain is fried. And anyway, I have in my bag Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf which I intend to start the moment I finish this. Wish I could wait for Headley's upcoming translation, but I'm too impatient--I want to read Beowulf and then come back to read The Mere Wife again.

That, my friends, for me, is the sign of a good novel: a reread.

One thing I loved about this novel was how powerful the women felt. Willa may have had her moments, but even she overcame and took charge. Dina, despite her fears, despite moments on the edge, felt in charge. The mothers, a kind of Greek chorus usher people on and off and about the suburban stage, were a magnificent collective creature, cunning. They felt like Mean Girls, but with far more solid, sink-or-swim bonds.

And the whole text has this magic/dreamy/dream-horror feel about it. It'd definitely not horror in the traditional sense, but so much is subtly horrifying.

Like I said: brain fried, Beowulf waiting. Maybe I'll have some more intelligent comments my second time through.

Quote Roundup

The writing was stunning, but I did still manage to flag a few quotes.

p. 152) He doesn't say anything, but she can feel his thoughts now. They're the thoughts men always have. She's spent her life anticipating those thoughts, working around them, pouring their drinks and patting their shoulders, sewing their buttons on tightly so that they can feel secure when they undo everything. No more of that.

p. 153) There's a long tradition that says women gossip, when in fact women are the memory of the world.

p. 174) Willa wonders if her mother has plans for everyone she's ever met, graphic their futures on some invisible chart. Her mother and women like her are the reason men can live at all, running corporations, announcing wars. Every man has a woman at home, and every woman plots the course of the universe, putting it into his breast pocket, like a note attached to a kindergartner, sending him out into his day.

p. 269) Well-preserved. Oh, we hate that phrase. Are we pickles or are we jam? Are we sour or are we sweet?

THE POST-BEOWULF RE-READ 7/24/19

Yep, I'm really doing it! I want to emphasize that reading Beowulf has made me realize how much it is not important to be familiar with it in order to enjoy The Mere Wife. The allusions to the original are clever and wonderful, but the differences are so refreshing compared to the slavish way that YA retellings tend to stick to their source material. For example, there are elements in each of the three main characters--Dana, Willa, and Ben--of not only Beowulf but all three of his antagonists.

And man, I would love to do a vocabulary analysis. I mean, Headley couldn't make it much more obvious that her chapters start with different translations of the word hwaet, but the frequency (and subtlety) with which those translations appear in the chapters is just astounding.

So much of this book is making me think and stretch my decaying English major brain muscles. It's a wonderful feeling...I just wish I could share it with a good book discussion group.

August 2, 2019

The book was just as--if not even more--beautiful the second time around. Noted repetitions: blood and red, cave, listen, sing/song, mountain, monster. Okay, so most of those are kind of obvious, especially given that two of them start chapters...but especially "listen" was used with such dramatic effect in so many contexts throughout. Look, this book is amazing, okay? Its going to be the first in a very long time that gets my never-get-rid-of-this "S" stamp.

I stand by my observation that Dana, Willa, and Ben Wolff actually alternate being Beowulf, Grendel, and Grendel's mother, as well as other characters. I also noticed (though this is not necessary to know to enjoy the story) that there were many more subtle allusions as well: the knife, the cup, Ben Wolff/Beowulf's swimming competition, the soldiers who abandon their leader in his/her hour of need.

One oddball comment: I'm a bit puzzled by the ram on the front cover. There isn't really any reference to rams in the book, though deer are mentioned several times. The cover overall does seem to reflect the entanglement of good and evil, innocence and guilt, but it's not symbolism that directly appears in the book. ( )