Mrs. Caliban [Paperback]

Rachel Ingalls (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 1982

I loved Mrs. Caliban. So deft and austere in its prose, so drolly casual in its fantasy...— John Updike

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Common Press; 1St Edition edition (January 15, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0876451121
• ISBN-13: 978-0876451120
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,166,970 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "A Change More Subtle Than a Threat of Danger, but Just as Urgent", July 26, 2005

By 

Debbie Lee Wesselmann (the Lehigh Valley, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mrs. Caliban (Paperback)

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true gem, May 18, 2000

By 

M. H. Bayliss "book queen" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mrs. Caliban (Paperback)

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Faultlessly written fantasty of love, dreaming and betrayal, May 5, 1999

By 

David S. Lott (Beaufort, South Carolina United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mrs. Caliban (Paperback)

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.