Our Wives Under the Sea

Miri has a tendency toward anxiety and self-centered thinking. She has missed Leah terribly while she was away, but she has little empathy about what Leah experienced—at least at first—and barely contains her frustration over Leah’s withdrawn silences and physical travails. For example, when Leah suffers from constant nosebleeds, Miri becomes exasperated: “Some mornings, I’d want to accuse her of doing it on purpose and then I’d look away, set my mouth into another shape, and pour the coffee, think about going for a run” (7). The silence between them is not entirely of Leah’s making, and Miri often refuses to speak her mind about her worries, fears, and frustrations. Simultaneously, Miri is initially horrified by these side effects and wants to take Leah to the hospital; Leah insists that she is fine, even when it becomes increasingly clear that she is not. There is also the simple matter that Miri has had to remake her life, however shoddily, in Leah’s absence: “I can’t decide whether to register her presence as relief or invasion” (11). It is difficult to resume normal relations after so much time apart. In short, Miri’s frustration is hard-earned. This period of time captures