Sea Wife – Amity Gage

“Where does a mistake begin?” asks Juliet Partlow in the opening line of Amity Gage’s latest novel. A gripping first line, to be sure, and one that puts the reader quickly and clearly in Juliet’s point-of-view. The novel runs from there, unfolding, to reconstruct events leading back to this “mistake”, the climax of the novel.  Juliet is a stay-at-home mother, with the familiar disappointment and depression of a brilliant woman who feels that her traditional role betrays her former ambition, her potential, and her happiness. Her husband, feels similarly trapped by his job and (embracing another trope) seeks adventure as he approaches middle age.  Michael proposes that they buy a boat and take their two young children (aged 7 and 2) on a year-long trip.  The story is told in two parts: Juliet’s hindsight narrative told as she hides in her closet, back on solid ground, but suffering with Michael now absent and “the mistake” looming; and Michael’s captain’s log which shifts to both his point of view and the family’s adventure unfolding in real time.  These points of view help to underscore the slipperiness of truth and startling differences two people can have in looking at the same events.  We see a struggling marriage as well as some truly beautiful family moments as the plot heats up with unexpected twists and turns.  When this book published, it was difficult to imagine spending a year on a boat with a family of four, but on the heels of the pandemic lockdowns, this story has an authenticity that feels very plausible.