Julia Armfield the talent that you are! I loved Our Wives Under the Sea so when I saw Julia’s newest novel I knew I had to read it as soon as I could! And of course Julia did not let me down.

A phenomenal novel that I almost don’t want to tell you anything about it because I want you to go in blind and enjoy discovering it like I did. This book felt like wading through murky water in a dream trying to figure out what is going on and what will happen next. And when the ending comes you feel yourself slowly sinking with it. I loved it!!!!

Julia has a knack for building this sense of slowly building dread that you just cannot turn away from. The way she weaves intrigue through her novels is spellbinding and I will forever be in awe. Her characters even when unlikable in moments are enthralling. Her world building is so subtle but utterly masterful. I can’t wait to thrust this into the hands of everyone I meet!

They were not kidding when they said this was unsettling, reading this during 4 days of no water was an experience.

Julia Armfield has a beautiful way of writing queer characters and stories that feel so authentic, the good, the bad and the brilliant. Every character in this novel felt so fleshed out and their behaviours and reactions felt true and completely believable. Private Rites centres around 3 sisters who have become somewhat estranged but are brought together when their father dies, the dystopian twist of never ending rain and a flooded and ever changing landscape really added to the intensity of the reunion of the sisters.

I found this novel incredibly gripping and didn't want to put it down, I will say that if you have any climate / eco anxiety to approach this with a little caution - or do as I did and not read it just before going to sleep. 4 star rating because even though I really enjoyed this, I did find the ending incredibly rushed and it took away some of the joy - would still recommend highly. Armfield is one to be watched.

Julia Armfield has this addictive ability to completely absorb me in her prose. Just a chapter or two of her writing and I’m surprised by the real world, any thoughts that aren’t in her voice suddenly jerk me awake.

The drowned world she’s created is amazing and her ability to merge dread and the mundane should honestly be studied. This is a brilliant climate novel which will hit you with some home truths about how we relate to the world, the earth and the changing weather.

Perhaps because of how absorbed I was in those aspects of the story, I occassionally felt that the different halves of this book were on the cusp of being too many things at once. One character has a thought, suddenly, that ‘this is the wrong genre’ and despite that self-awareness, the sisters’ stories, the city, and the mysteries did sometimes feel like they weren’t quite in step with each other.

But I think Private Rites is going to linger with me regardless. It’s world is in my brain like Armfield’s vivid description of one sister’s memories of her mother; ‘spreading across her like lichen, like something resembling skin’

Easiest five stars I've given a book 🌊🌧️

"It’s been raining for a long time now..."

I was kindly gifted an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, and that review is "HAUNTING !!"

As an Our Wives Under the Sea fan first, human being second, I was equally ecstatic and nervous to get my hands on Julia Armfield's second novel. If I could tell you one thing about Private Rites, it's that it did not disappoint. Also it has lesbians. Also it's kind of dystopian but not in a way you might be expecting.

I highlighted so many sentences and passages from this book I can't even tell you! Armfield's novels have this habit of dropping earth shattering statements that either make you question everything you've ever believe, or wonder if she somehow has the ability to climb into your brain and put your abstract anxieties into concrete words.

My favourite thing about it is that Private Rites has imagery you can almost reach out and touch. Viscerally grotesque at times, delicate and stunning at others. Armfield's words are infectious in a way that's hard to describe.

The familiar relationship dynamics that are so intimate and often claustrophobic that Armfield dissects in Our Wives are present in Private Rites. This time, however, the scope is so much wider and infinitely more complex when it comes to sisterhood. Through Isla, Irene and Agnes we see their relationships with each explored, but also their each different relationships with their parents and their partners. One at the start of a relationship, one in the middle and one at the end.

The relationships aren't the only thing expanded in this second novel, however, the world is so much larger. I won't give too much away because it was glorious not knowing anything about this world Armfield created and getting to discover new pieces as she slowly pulls it apart. This book takes enormous tragedies and anxieties like climate change, death and trauma, and never tries to boil them down or define them. Instead they're dissected through the tiny and unique lenses of the people experiencing them. I don't think I've ever seen the every day and the almost cosmic scale sitting so effortlessly together on a page.

"A house, unlatched, is less a house and more a set of rooms through which one might be hunted."

What an opening to a novel! I knew I loved this book from the first unnerving sentences and loved it all the way to the breathtaking end. My expectations were high for this novel and they were more than met - really, no one is doing it like Julia Armfield.

This novel, out in June, is set in either an alternative reality or near future in which it has been raining for years, so long that young people don't really remember a time before water taxis and houses on stilts and endless damp. Three estranged adult daughters of a famous architect - Isla, Irene and Agnes - narrate this novel set in the time right after their father's death. A fourth narrator, The City, gives an eerie context for their grief, but the book is restrained in what it reveals about this world.

As the three women muddle through the funeral and the time that follows, coming together and clashing again, they try to make sense of their lives in shadow of this great man, their different but troubling experiences of childhood, the haunting presence and absence of their fathers two wives. All that time, something lurks on the outside, something haunting and dangerous growing ever closer, circling the characters with intent, slowly and then all at once.

The book feels like King Lear meets Succession meets The Haunting of Hill House or The Fall of the House of Usher, but it's just quintessentially Julia Armfield too, and her at her best yet.

Description:
Isla, Irene and Agnes are three sisters whose architect dad has just died, and who don’t particularly get on. Set in a near-future where sea levels have risen and the rain is near never-ending.

Liked:
The atmosphere is so dense and oppressive: reading this on the tube on the way to work I was sure that I was going to exit into fog and rain - I got dragged into it immediately. The world is totally convincing, and depressing in its believability. The characters are spikey, deeply flawed, and totally lost, but ultimately feel relatable. Their relationships and complex and juicy.

Disliked:
The ending got a tad melodramatic and seemed to wrap up quickly.

Would 100% recommend. Armfield’s best yet, IMO!

Anything Else:
This reminded me a lot of two books I’ve read (relatively) recently. Firstly, the dynamic between and focus on the sisters reminded me of Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors. Secondly, the sense of watery unease was very similar to The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again by M John Harrison. With both of those books, I found myself a bit disappointed; the themes really appealed, but something about the execution felt lacking. With Private Rites, I feel like those itches have been thoroughly scratched.

Thank you as always to the publishers and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book!

Having read Our Wives Under the Sea and being one of the very few people who wasn't massively blown away by it, I went into Private Rites with really no expectations. That being said, I was aware of the buzz around it and the existing glowing reviews. Well, I think I can safely say now that Armfield's writing is just not particularly for me. I can't quite put my finger on it and I wish that I could, but this book left me underwhelmed in the same way as her previous one. Don't get me wrong, I completely understand why so many people adore her work, it's just not for me. I didn't dislike the book, but it wasn't great either and I found myself quite bored in parts and wondering what I was missing.

Isla, Irene and Agnes. Three sisters with a fractured relationship and tetchy dynamic, drawn back together after their father’s death. Navigating a city of perpetual rain where the dead can’t be buried or they will rise again - literally - the sisters move through, and exist in, this sodden landscape; a place where the daily produce many of us would take for granted is now harder to come back, and where power outages are a regular occurrence, with mysterious sirens sounding from the depths of buildings.

Julia Armfield has to be the queen of atmospheric, slow-build, haunting, water-logged writing. Add in a startling opening chapter that indicates a pending revelation of sorts and you have this tense, unsettling novel rippling with undercurrents of dread and helplessness in the face of the inevitable. As the water in the city slowly rises, so does our feeling that something is closing in on the sisters. Three complex and flawed characters, so well drawn. The novel deftly explores their current relationships and how childhood can shape our adult relationships; their individual memories of their relationship with their difficult father, a famous but stern and reclusive architect; their strained relationships between sisters after years of being pitted against each other; and their microcosmic sense of loss in the grand scheme of the dire state of the planet.
Armfield is such a distinct writer and in this novel, which blends a stark vision of where the climate crisis is heading with a raw delve into essential questions of family, identity and love, she once again brings us a striking and haunting story.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my DRC.

Isla, Irene and Agnes are three sisters attempting to shape meaningful lives from the wreckage of their toxic family life and the fact that they are living through the end of days in a drowning city where it never stops raining. The weight of water in this novel hangs as heavy as the emotional weight the sisters bear when their father dies and leaves them to tidy up the mess he left behind. A dystopian parable set at the end of the world. This reminded me in some ways of the writing of Emily St. John Mandel in that both authors are very good at creating a sense of human fragility and real, domestic lives lived against the backdrop of much bigger, more sinister things. This had the tension of a thriller but the heart of a love story.

I was really excited for this book after loving Julia Armfield’s debut and short story collection, and hearing it described as ‘King Lear at the end of the world’. The religious themes were interesting, I’d have liked to have heard more about Irene’s theology PhD and her own spiritual beliefs, but I think that’s just me being a gay Catholic.

The sibling dynamics are messy in a way that feels real, it’s giving Succession season 4 which is also giving King Lear. The characters are flawed, unlikeable but feel like fully fleshed-out people, and I cared about all three sisters by the end. The themes of processing grief for an emotionally abusive family member were well drawn and complex.

By far my favourite part of the book was the setting, I can’t stop thinking about the flooded city, the ‘ambient apocalypse’ where everyone still has to go to work while infrastructure literally and figuratively collapses around them. It’s scary because it feels like it could happen that way, like a frog in a pot. Armfield’s world-building and evocative language is brilliant and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

I wish I loved anything like Julia Armfield loves water.

Her latest is a queer take on King Lear (and also a particular recent-ish British movie that it would be massive spoiler to name) across a backdrop of climate change (which is a little annoyingly not really explored - I just kept thinking that if it’s raining this much, what food is growing and why hasn’t everyone starved to death?). It’s powerfully written, and you will feel distinctly soggy while reading. I did find the characters in this one a lot less relatable or even likeable than in Our Wives Under The Sea, which is fine, as not everything needs to be a cosy cuddle fest, but at the same time it doesn’t have the unsettling vibe of the earlier book. It’s a good book, but maybe doesn’t quite match the expectations I had after the debut. I’ll still be around for the next one though.

Another perfectly pitched narrative from Armfield, who knows exactly how to build tension without sacrificing strong characterisation as she does it. The sense of a world teetering on the edge of full-scale climate chaos does not, sadly, feel far-fetched. Less convinced, perhaps, by one of the other narrative strands that leads to its climax, however she's so skilled in laying it down and bringing it together, that doesn't really matter - and is, of course, entirely subjective. This should be a huge, huge hit.

This was a vivid story that was grippingly atmospheric and monumental in scope. I loved the Shakespearean allusion to King Lear, and characterisation was immaculate. It was well paced and the sense of setting (dystopian, claustrophobic, eerie, intense) added a huge amount of atmosphere to a very well written story. I've not read any of Julia Armfield's previous works but I will be adding them to my reading list.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

After Salt Slow and Our Wives Under the Sea, I couldn't wait to read Julia Armfield's new novel. And I absolutely loved Private Rites! Armfield's writing is so beautiful and vivid, and the story had me on the edge of my seat. It was great gaining insight into the sisters' lives and their relationships were so well done and complex, and at the same time, there was this sense of unease the entire time, that something was lying in wait. The climate crisis setting really hooked me too - it made for a suspensful atomsphere. Overall, this was a gripping read and I won't be able to stop talking about it.
Thank you Netgalley and 4th Estate and William Collins for the ARC!

Julia delivers once again! With Private Rites, Julia explores the relationship between three sisters in a world ravaged by a climate catastrophe where it has rained for so long that some places have been lost and cities have retreated to higher storeys. The three estranged sisters are forced back together after their father died, reuniting to clear his grand glass house.

Once again, LOVED Julia’s use of water. In Private Rites it is literally pouring from the sky and it’s fascinating to learn about how society has learned to adjust to this new way of life. Her prose is beautiful as always, with such stunning descriptions and reflections on relationships, not only between the three sisters, but the relationships with others in their life.

I didn’t love it as much as Our Wives Under the Sea, mainly because the ending felt a little misplaced for me, but I might enjoy it more on a reread placing it into context. And now the wait begins for another Armfield…

Thank you to @4thestate for the eARC! 4.5 stars.

I didn't read Our Wives Under the Sea so really didn't have many expectations going into this, it sounded really intriguing and didn't disappoint. Slightly terrifying at times if you think too much about the dystopian setting but very gripping and the atmosphere created by the author was fantastic. Beautifully written and a great bit of family drama, I really recommend it.

Loved this! A brilliant second novel after the inimitable Our Wives Under the Sea, this was just as filled with atmosphere and awe although markedly different in approach. Armfield is quickly becoming a favourite author!

This was a gripping read, I thought the characters were intriguing and I'm going to keep an eye out for more from this author.

Our Wives Under the Sea’ was in my top ten favourite reads of 2023 so, obviously, I had to read this and internally screamed when I got an eArc (thank you to Netgalley & publishers!!)

I did not know this was King Lear inspired until after I had read it and thought to myself that something felt familiar. I love that! I enjoy modern Shakespeare retellings, usually, and this was no exception.

This has the same creepy, eerie, haunting feeling that OWUTS does, in the background that you don’t always see but you always feel is there, much like a ghost. This way of writing pulls me in, I’m obsessed with it. Add in the themes of climate disaster and the destruction that water brings and it really tied a little bow on the horror themes. I love how Julia writes water and how she understands it.

The government knowing what’s happening and having the ability to help people, but not really doing much at all, was realistic, infuriating and also pretty scary. I was tense and anxious most of the time I was reading this.

An element I especially loved is how the city is alive. Yes, we have scenes written by the city as a life with its own mind! How it watches people and their own destruction but being powerless to do anything, and upset that their destruction is by extension their destruction too. I loved the perspective they added to the narrative.

Also, I just love stories about sisters. I think sister relationships are complex and contain so much material to explore. Sisterhood, whether to someone who is a sister by blood or chosen, is so unique. I was biased from the start to love that dynamic. Now that I know it’s a King Lear retelling, I’m going to have to re-read that and then this to see these comparisons.

It really spoke to me about the importance of community and caring, and the depths of our cruelty to one another.

This is very different (and a little similar) to Our Wives, but I loved it even so, even if it’s not quite as much. A large part of that may just be that I wasn’t smart enough to understand everything going on here, but it’ll be re-read anyway with annotations and I can’t wait to explore it a bit more!

It was beautifully written, insightful and terrifying. My favourite trio!

I adored Our Wives Under the Sea, it’s such a unique and haunting, claustrophobic book, and Private Rites shares quite a few similarities with her first novel. The book is set in the future, in a world where there is constant rain, flooding, power outages, rising sea levels, and crumbling buildings. It’s a really haunting and terrifying dystopian setting, where water levels are rising faster than humans can cope with. The story is about three sisters who find out their father (a famous architect who designed houses for the elite) is dead, and they all have to reunite and face their dark and troublesome past.
It’s quite a slow burn, but it does build up by the end. I think the writing is beautiful, I loved the representation of three queer siblings, and the alternating POVs of many characters.