2023/096: Mrs Caliban — Rachel Ingalls

2023/096: Mrs Caliban — Rachel Ingalls

'...And any child or half-child of mine would be called a monster, wouldn’t it?’
‘Born on American soil to an American mother – such a child could become President. It would be American. And I’m married so it would also be legitimate. After I sold the story to the dailies, it would be rich, too. It’s surprising how little people mind what they’re called, so long as they have enough money.’ [loc. 747]

In the introduction, Irenosen Okojie notes that this novel 'has quietly influenced and been championed by many cultural juggernauts: Guillermo del Toro’s film The Shape of Water, for one'... The basic premise is remarkably similar to that film's: a suburban woman has her life upturned when she encounters a humanoid amphibian, captured by scientists but desperate for freedom. There is love, and sex, and an escape. But Ingalls' novel focusses more on Dorothy than on Larry (the amphibian), and there is rather more going on in Dorothy's life than in the life of the mute Elisa in del Toro's film.

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