Mrs. Caliban

by Rachel Ingalls
Mrs. Caliban cover
Good Books rating 4.42
Technical
  • ID: 2572
  • Added: 2025-10-15
  • Updated: 2025-10-15
  • Reviews: 3
Reviews
Full-Stop · Adam Fales · 2017-12-06
perfect 4.75

The novel is described as a perfect and deeply moving exploration of love and loss. It is praised for its elemental prose and emotional depth.

Adam Fales at Full-Stop describes 'Mrs. Caliban' as a perfect novel that delves deeply into themes of love and loss. They highlight the novel's elemental prose, which becomes particularly powerful at its emotional center. Fales appreciates the way the narrative balances detailed resolution with a sense of glare, creating a profound and moving reading experience. They note that the novel's exploration of domesticity and desire is both timeless and deeply relevant.

Quick quotes

    a perfect novel

    Here at an emotional center, the prose becomes general, almost elemental.

    The pattern of shade and shine—or detailed resolution and glare—is ...

NPR · 2017-12-03
wonderful 4.00

The novel is celebrated for its timely resurrection and proto-feminist themes. It is seen as a wonderfully weird classic that explores domesticity and female desire.

The reviewer at NPR sees 'Mrs. Caliban' as a wonderfully weird classic that delves into themes of domesticity, loss, and female desire. They note that the novel's reissue is particularly timely, given its proto-feminist take on life, which resonates strongly in today's society. The reviewer appreciates the novel's unique blend of the ordinary and the extraordinary, making it a compelling read that feels both familiar and fresh.

Quick quotes

    a timely resurrection in this gender-mesmerized time

    a wonderfully weird classic about domesticity, loss, female desire, and falling in love with a frog-man 'monster.'

    given the author's proto-feminist take on life

Los Angeles Times · 2017-12-01
perfect 4.50

The novel is praised for its surreal and timeless exploration of domesticity and desire. It is noted for its perfect blend of the familiar and the extraordinary.

The reviewer highlights how 'Mrs. Caliban' masterfully blends the mundane with the surreal, creating a narrative that feels both timeless and deeply relevant. They appreciate the novel's exploration of domesticity, loss, and female desire, noting that it draws from familiar elements like B-grade monster movies to craft something uniquely profound. The reviewer suggests that the novel's reissue is timely, given its proto-feminist themes that resonate strongly in today's gender-mesmerized world.

Quick quotes

    a perfect novel

    There are many familiar things on which it draws (B-grade monster movies ...)

    a timely resurrection in this gender-mesmerized time

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