I have to admit that I took a little time between reading The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister and writing this review. I read it during the busiest time of the semester both as a professor and as a PhD student so I wanted to give it time to sink in and marinate a little. Now that I’ve had that time, I have to say that I loved it.

The book was very unique and I do think that how Chronister approached the topic of collective family trauma was wonderfully done. I’m absolutely a sucker for broken narratives and how Chronister jumps from one sibling to another seamlessly was addictive. It reminded me of Tommy Orange’s There, There (which was one of my required books for this semester, hence the comparison).

Kay Chronister’s The Bog Wife follows the Haddesley family and the cranberry bog that they’ve tended to for generations. Their continuous care for the bog is what helps provide for them and allows them to remain separated from the rest of the world. The bog also provides a “bog-wife” through a ritual where the patriarch of the family is sacrificed so that the next patriarch can carry on the family line. However, this time the bog refuses to honor the bargain and this generation has to figure out the next steps of how and why the bog has failed to provide for them after all this time.

Reading the perspective of five siblings: Eda, Charlie, Wenna, Percy, and Nora offers a different approach to why the bog did what it did and how to fix it. Wenna is the only one who has seen and lived in the outside world and can try to heal the wounds left by the trauma of generations before.

The story is beautiful and haunting. It’s a reminder that we as humans not only need to take care of ourselves but also take care of nature as well. While nature can provide it is equally as capable of destruction, especially the longer we neglect it. The shared experience of natural destruction and the different approaches for how to “amend” the situation is so unique. I firmly believe that Chronsiter presents something wholly original and unseen before with The Bog Wife.

I highly recommend The Bog Wife to anyone regardless of what their preferred reading genre is and honestly, I would probably read this one again. There are so many different perspectives that I believe there’s stuff I certainly missed during my first read-through.

This book was fascinating. I found the plot and characters to be very interesting, compelling, and engaging. I was invested throughout the whole narrative. The setting was unique and interesting. The family history was a fascinating backdrop for the story.

I did enjoy reading this book. I love the premise of folk horror intermingled with myths and mystery. The characters were interesting and well written, and the family dynamics were heartbreaking. I think it was an interesting book, and I would definitely recommend it. I can't wait to see what the author will come up with next.

Thank you Net Galley ARC

Super creepy and filled with Gothic allure, this novel is absolutely unique, yet not totally my cup of tea.

The Haddesley family lives next to a bog in an environmentally impoverished part of WV. They have a mystical relationship with the bog. They care for it, and, in return, it provides them with a "bog wife" after the family patriarch dies. This "wife" propagates the family line. However, even though it's now time for another bog wife to come forth from the bog, she doesn't appear--and the family is scared of what's to come.

We get chapters from all four Haddesley kids' POVs, but I never felt that I really got to know any of them all that well. Wenna stood out, mostly because she was the only one who escaped the house and had intriguing stores to tell about that experience. Still, their individual personalities don't really come through all that well, so when the ending came, I was confused more than intrigued by their fates. Their characterizations are overshadowed by dense natural description and family discussions that don't add much to the overall narrative.

While this novel wasn't really my type of book, it would absolutely be enjoyed by those who enjoy modern Gothic tales, especially ones with an overall supernatural tone.

Though this book didn’t fully keep my attention, it’s a very solid piece of folky horror. Myths, mysterious happenings, tragic family dynamics. I didn’t like it quite as much as I expected, but I enjoyed it!

I liked this, for the most part but I think it’s labeled incorrectly as horror. It dragged on in parts and until the end I wasn’t sure if I liked it. It is very atmospheric but there are too many pov’s and following one could have created more tension and vibes.

The writing is good but the plot lags.

This book had a very interesting concept, and good Southern/Appalachian gothic vibes, but ultimately was just OK.

The Bog Wife is unlike any book I've read before. The Haddesley family is so isolated from society and yet so codependent on each other as their own community that they read differently from other characters. I loved that we got each of their perspectives throughout. I found each of them to be lovable in certain ways, but my overwhelming feeling towards them was pity. Pity that they had been raised on this isolated bog, pity that their mother paid them no attention and their father was cruel, pity that they felt forced by the compact to remain on the land.

I was invested in the story and them learning why the bog refused Charlie a wife. As they each unraveled pieces of the puzzle, I just became more and more ensconced in their world and unwilling to leave it (not unlike the Haddesley's themselves). The surprise after the snowstorm was unexpected to me and I felt that the ending of the book was satisfying. This is not a genre I typically read in but I would certainly read another book by Chronister. Her writing and storytelling was so captivating to me.

This gothic appalachian tale was strange, like a woman resurrected from a bog with her husband is strange and one I am not convinced worked even by the end of the book. The atmosphere was strange and scary- the ever creeping fog! The Haddesley siblings are odd and lean into what the town thinnks about them in a way that seems to be on purpose. Unfortunately none of the characters seem to land in a meannigful way and I kind of ended up hating them all in a way that I do not think was intentional.

This one was a dash of fever dream, some strange family dynamics and a whole lot of peat. I really enjoyed piecing out what was going on with this one. I am not familiar enough with Appalachian folklore to know if there are any connections to anything but I appreciated the uniqueness a lot.

When I saw its beautiful cover it called to me like the song of a siren. This book whispers to you and slowly enchants you with its magical descriptions of nature and examination of a family in a sort of crisis. This book is about the Haddesley family’s strange symbiotic relationship with the bog that nourishes them but also demands a sacrifice. Rooted in Appalachian folklore, this book is many things at once- folk horror, gothic and a family drama with some fantasy thrown in. Does it all work together seamlessly ? I’m not sure, but it did captivate me. The ending had to many loose threads that I wish had been tightened up, but that hardly mattered as I was so bewitched by this novel. Thank you to @netgalley and @counterpointllc for an e-arc of this book.

Bonus points for the beautiful cover.

The Bog Wife doesn’t live up to its potential. I will try to explain without giving any spoilers. The characters are unlikable and not very smart, and none of them are well-formed enough to make up for it. “The Pact” could have been a fascinating plot point, instead it’s left unfinished, the characters lacking the curiosity to investigate.

"A household that left a tree embedded in a roof was not a sane or healthy household."

Five not quite sane or healthy siblings gather to bury their domineering father, and to celebrate the marriage of the oldest son to the bog wife - a woman who is supposed to rise from the marshy land surrounding their crumbling estate.

This year, though, it seems she’s a no-show . . .

As time goes by, and the promised swamp tart fails to materialize, the family sinks deeper into despair, and things just get weirder. Though not a horror novel, per se, this was definitely one of the strangest books I read in Spooktober. What an eerie, languid, mesmerizing read it was! The author did a great job of making me care about these characters, and I was genuinely worried for their safety. (And, sanity.)

Though I doubt I’d ever want to read this book again, it’s certainly one I won’t forget any time soon.

I loved the premise of this book, but I've come to the realization that Kay Chronister's writing style just isn't for me (I felt similarly about Desert Creatures). There's some brilliant stuff here, and the writing is sometimes so lush and fascinating, but the narrative and character work really didn't come through for me, though I'm fortunately in the minority.

While I didn't hate this book, it wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be. I appreciate the gothic Appalachian setting but didn't feel connected to any of the characters.

Such a different book! Vey moody and atmospheric, the characters were well developed and the story was cutting. Will be looking forward to more form this author.

Great story and idea! The rich long history with the family is very engaging, really helps the story

Thanks to NetGalley and Catapult, Counterpoint Press, and Soft Skull Press for the ARC.

It was a little slow to get into at first, but it was so intriguing. There is a very fine line between the modern world and the folk magic of the Appalachians that the family subscribes to; even when the true background of the Haddesleys comes out, there's still something in the bog that lingers with them. If there's one thing, I noticed that it explored gender roles/performances with Charlie's treatment by the family even before he's physically disabled, and I wish there was a bit more explored with that.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6953954595

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/50671d9a-2164-44a5-a4d8-9b81d1891988

Check out this review of The Bog Wife on Fable. https://fable.co/review/1844907c-fc48-4872-b409-8b1842b96140/share

Book: The Bog Wife
Author: Kay Chronister
Pub Date: October 1, 2024

This book was so confusing to me. There seemed to be so many things going on and I never felt like I got answers to anything. I guess frustrating is the better word to use. Just not for me. Thank you to Catapult, Counterpoint Press, and Soft Skull Press and NetGalley for this sneak peek.

I really savored the environment in The Bog Wife. I enjoyed my time in this bog of West Virginian Appalachia. I felt mud and moisture, the heat and then the cold, beat back by burning dried peat. I didn't feel attached to the characters necessarily, but they were interesting company while we shared our time in the bog together.

Despite all the environment there was to savor, I did feel like this story was sort of slow to get started, then ended too quickly. I ended up wishing the whole book was flavored a lot more like the last hundred pages or so.

Ultimately though, I enjoyed my read, and I recommend it if you enjoy the grotesque (though this is maybe grotesque lite).