Well, that was brilliant, and weird.

It’s the late 1970s in California and housewife Dorothy lives with her husband Fred whose been having affairs since their son died and Dorothy miscarried a daughter. She hears on the radio that a monster / frogman has escaped from a nearby laboratory. Later that evening as she is cooking dinner for Fred and a colleague, the frogman who introduces himself as Larry walks into Dorothy’s kitchen. She gives him some celery and he eats it. She lets him stay in the spare room without Fred knowing and she and Larry start a relationship – sexual, emotional, loving. Dorothy tells no one, including her best friend, Estelle…

Ingalls packs so much into this novella (really a long short story): grief, difference, frustration, feminism, female friendship and more. I loved it. We read it for book club (my choice) and there was surprisingly, a lot to discuss, and it was mostly well liked. 

Thanks to Gina Chung for bringing it to my attention when she chose her three Books Under the Radar.

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