The Mere Wife, Maria Dahvana Headley
The Mere Wife, Maria Dahvana Headley
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

The Mere Wife
A Novel

Author: Maria Dahvana Headley

Narrator: Susan Bennett

Unabridged: 8 hr 57 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/17/2018


Synopsis

"Susan Bennett masterfully narrates a stunning retelling of Beowulf that confronts all manner of monsters...Powerful, upsetting, and unforgettable, Bennett's narration is staggeringly potent." — AudioFile Magazine

New York Times bestselling author Maria Dahvana Headley presents a modern retelling of the literary classic Beowulf, set in American suburbia as two mothers—a housewife and a battle-hardened veteran—fight to protect those they love in The Mere Wife.

From the perspective of those who live in Herot Hall, the suburb is a paradise. Picket fences divide buildings—high and gabled—and the community is entirely self-sustaining. Each house has its own fireplace, each fireplace is fitted with a container of lighter fluid, and outside—in lawns and on playgrounds—wildflowers seed themselves in neat rows. But for those who live surreptitiously along Herot Hall’s periphery, the subdivision is a fortress guarded by an intense network of gates, surveillance cameras, and motion-activated lights.

For Willa, the wife of Roger Herot (heir of Herot Hall), life moves at a charmingly slow pace. She flits between mommy groups, playdates, cocktail hour, and dinner parties, always with her son, Dylan, in tow. Meanwhile, in a cave in the mountains just beyond the limits of Herot Hall lives Gren, short for Grendel, as well as his mother, Dana, a former soldier who gave birth as if by chance. Dana didn’t want Gren, didn’t plan Gren, and doesn’t know how she got Gren, but when she returned from war, there he was. When Gren, unaware of the borders erected to keep him at bay, ventures into Herot Hall and runs off with Dylan, Dana’s and Willa’s worlds collide.

About Maria Dahvana Headley

Maria Dahvana Headley is a #1 New York Times-bestselling author and editor. Her novels include Magonia, Aerie, and Queen of Kings, and she has also written a memoir, The Year of Yes. With Kat Howard, she is the author of The End of the Sentence, and with Neil Gaiman, she is co-editor of Unnatural Creatures. Her short stories have been shortlisted for the Shirley Jackson, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards, and her work has been supported by the MacDowell Colony and by Arte Studio Ginestrelle, where the first draft of The Mere Wife was written. She was raised with a wolf and a pack of sled dogs in the high desert of rural Idaho, and now lives in Brooklyn.

About Susan Bennett

Susan Bennett is known for her radio and television voiceover work. She has narrated a host of audiobooks, including those from bestselling authors Peggy Post, Linda Francis Lee, Dorothea Benton Frank, Emma McLaughlin, and Nicola Kraus. Her reading of Tiger, Tiger by Margaux Fragoso won an AudioFile Earphones Award. In describing Susan’s reading style, Publishers Weekly has said, “Bennett's narration is excellent: she draws the listener into the story... keeping the pacing brisk and entertaining.” Susan also dabbles in the music industry as the singer and keyboardist for The Interactive! Band. Along with her guitarist husband, Rick Hinkle, Bennett is the co-owner of Audiocam Music, a full service recording studio.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Sasha on September 26, 2018

I was promised Beowulf in the suburbs, and here's the problem: it isn't. Does Headley know that you can't just name a character Grendel and call it a day? If she'd billed it as loosely-related Beowulf slash fic, that'd be one thing - it would, seriously, it would be one thing - it would be this thin......more

Goodreads review by Ron on July 19, 2018

You don’t need to be a Tolkien-level expert in Old English to enjoy “The Mere Wife,” but it helps if you enjoyed Seamus Heaney’s glorious translation of “Beowulf” or endured that bizarre animated version written by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary, starring Angelina Jolie as the least convincing (and mos......more

Goodreads review by Jenia on July 26, 2018

Listen. There's lots of ways I could start this review. I'm going to start it with, "The Mere Wife is a retelling of Beowulf in the suburbs," because this is easily one of the best books I've read this year and that's the best elevator pitch I can offer. The book centres on Dana Mills, an American ma......more

Goodreads review by Allison on October 30, 2023

Wow. I am utterly blown away by this book. It has no business being this good. I'd expected a sort of interesting look at the story from the "monster's" side of things as has been so popular lately. I expected a thickly plastered white take on the myth, with maybe a dose of feminism on the way. I wa......more

Goodreads review by Anthony on October 10, 2019

This book is beloved by several of my friends here on Goodreads, but I cannot say that it is beloved by me. I feel like I’m a bit of a grump for saying this, but while it started out more or less in a promising fashion, its charms became increasingly elusive, and by the last quarter, its fractured n......more


Quotes

"Susan Bennett masterfully narrates a stunning retelling of BEOWULF that confronts all manner of monsters....Powerful, upsetting, and unforgettable, Bennet's narration is staggeringly potent." -AudioFile, Earphones Award Winner

"Susan Bennett’s sweetly polished voice won­derfully evokes the barely suppressed rage of Willa...listening to the book seems more appropriate than reading it. Inspired by an epic which was more likely to be declaimed rather than read, the musical prose of the novel heav­ily references an oral tradition, exhorting us to “Hark!” and “Sing!”" -Locus Magazine


Awards

  • Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year
  • Washington Post Best Books of the Year
  • World Fantasy Award - Finalist
  • Seattle Times Best Books of the Year
  • Joyce Carol Oates Prize