Mrs. Caliban

This short, allegorical, and seductively odd novel was first published in 1983, and was hailed as both a feminist and a literary "tour-de-force." Reading it today, more than twenty years later, it still has enormous power, less from its theme than from its deep sadness of love unfulfilled. Dorothy is a housewife in a loveless, unfaithful marriage who encounters a passionate sea monster named Larry in her kitchen. Six foot seven, frog-like, "well-built", and muscular, Larry is on the run, having escaped from an experiment. The two become tender, clandestine lovers. No one seems to notice, or catch the two of them during their trips to the beach, although Dorothy's friend Estelle notices a change in her. Early on, though, the reader is told that Dorothy hears soft voices that she knows aren't real, hallucinations she has had since the death of her son during what should have been routine surgery. Is Larry then just a fantasy, or is he real? Does Dorothy need the idea of an alien lover to be able to accept the truth about her husband and marriage? The delight in this book is that the author never answers these questions. In the end, it doesn't matter whether he was real or not, only that Dorothy had him in her heart. Rachel Ingalls writes with extraordinary beauty and simplicity, making this book as seductive as Larry. It is a testament to the author's skill that Larry, green and brown spotted, is more attractive and intriguing than the humans who surround Dorothy. This story about passion and loss and a fantastical monster has hints of "The Beauty and the Beast" as well as more contemporary novels such as Darrieussecq's Pig Tales and Bakis's Lives of the Monster Dogs. This book, however, stands apart from those others since it is less about deformity than it is about human need.

Mrs. Caliban is a lonely housewife, who has lost a child, and whose marriage is falling apart. Then, she is rescued by a sea monster, who loves fruit and makes passionate love to Mrs. Caliban all day--or is she rescued? Or destroyed?This deceptively simple novel forces you to decide. Ms. Ingalls does not force her answer down your throat, but gives you a story to which you bring your own thoughts and values.Is it a fairy tale which ultimately goes bad? Is it a metaphor for the dangers of extramarital affairs, and in particular the danger of trying to escape reality through an affair replete with fantasy?Is it a warning against the addictive, and ultimately destructive, power of drugs?On a completely different level, it seems to me that Mrs. Calliban tells the story of creating a story. First a few bits of fiction creep into a writer's otherwise mundane existence, just as Mrs. Caliban hears things that appear very real to her, but no one else hears. As the author continues writing, fictional characters appear on stage, full blown--just as Larry appears in Mrs. Caliban's kitchen. As the novel progresses, its fictional characters begin to take over the author's life, and the fictional world becomes more real than the temporal world the rest of us live in--in an almost sensual way. Then, when the book is finally finished, the characters die--there is nothing left to create and the characters you have created are released to the wider world. Note that the only character left standing at the end of Mrs. Caliban is the narrator herself. And no matter what she does, she can never get Larry back.Mrs. Caliban is an easy, quick read, but stays in the mind after--like every good book, the more you think about it, the more insight you get. Highly recommended for anyone with a free evening to devote to a good read.

This is a powerful short novel filled with playful words and images that are in dialogue with classical ideas of romance and gothic horror. It works on Shakespeare's idea of the interplay between dream and reality, but does so at a very domestically satisfying level. As the title suggests, this novel's focus is on the housewife and not the great green monster that finds his way into her kitchen. Yet, behind this simple romance is a thick plot of betrayal. This is tightly controlled by Ingalls who never gives anything away until it will make its maximum impact. It's a shame that this novel (and author!) seems to have fallen into a category of obscure fiction because it is truly inspiring in its creative inventiveness and deep psychological portrayal of corrupted innocence.

I found out about this book the year it came out thanks to the fact that it was nominated by an obscure British group as one of the top 25 works of literature of all time. That might be somewhat of an overstatement, but it's a very profound little book that no book lover should miss. Even my high school students, although at first they think it's weird that a housewife would fall in love with a green monster, saw its poignancy and beautiful prose. Ingalls is one of my favorite writers of all time.

In 125 pages, this beautifully written short novel goes beyond imagination to dream, fantasty and an otherworldly love between a woman and a haunted and hunted creature from the sea. A unique look at love, betrayal and loss, in an unforgettable parable.