Introduction

"A lush, beautifully written novel about trying to be a person in our strange world . . . Pick this one up for its exquisite characterization, decaying settings and a dash of Southern gothic horror." —Kiersten White, The New York Times Book Review

A “haunting, brilliant” Appalachian folktale evoking the Southern gothic suspense of Sharp Objects and the eco spine-tinglers of Jeff Vandermeer (Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts)

Five siblings in West Virginia unearth long-buried secrets when the supernatural bargain entwining their fate with their ancestral land is suddenly ruptured

Since time immemorial, the Haddesley family has tended the cranberry bog. In exchange, the bog sustains them. The staunch seasons of their lives are governed by a strict covenant that is renewed each generation with the ritual sacrifice of their patriarch, and in return, the bog produces a “bog-wife.” Brought to life from vegetation, this woman is meant to carry on the family line. But when the bog fails—or refuses—to honor the bargain, the Haddesleys, a group of discordant siblings still grieving the mother who mysteriously disappeared years earlier, face an unknown future.

Middle child Wenna, summoned back to the dilapidated family manor just as her marriage is collapsing, believes the Haddesleys must abandon their patrimony. Her siblings are not so easily persuaded. Eldest daughter Eda, de facto head of the household, seeks to salvage the compact by desecrating it. Younger son Percy retreats into the wilderness in a dangerous bid to summon his own bog-wife. And as youngest daughter Nora takes desperate measures to keep her warring siblings together, fledgling patriarch Charlie uncovers a disturbing secret that casts doubt over everything the family has ever believed about itself.

At once a gothic eco-horror, a psychological drama, and a family saga, The Bog Wife is a propulsive read for fans of Shirley Jackson, Karen Russell, and Matt Bell that speaks to what is knowable and unknowable within a family history and how to know when it is time to move forward.

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Excerpt

On winter nights, they burned heavy bundles of dried peat in the hearth and inhaled the scent of sacred ground burning while their father paced the length of the room, reciting the history of the Haddesley compact. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

From the publisher:

1. The novel opens with Nora’s decision to hide the “trespasser” mushrooms that she sees in the bog from her brother Percy. Why does Nora make this decision, and how does it set the stage for conflicts between Nora and her siblings later on?

2. What roles do Eda, Charlie, Percy, and Nora play in the family at the beginning of the novel, and how do their dynamics change through the course of the story?

3. Much of the Haddesley family believes that Charlie is not up to the job of being the bog’s custodian. Do you agree? Why or why not? What does being the bog’s custodian seem to involve, and what do you think it should involve?

4. On page [54], Wenna recalls a conversation with her husband Michael where he accuses her of fearing everything sacred. She answers, “how is it sacred if you’re not afraid of it?” Why do you think Wenna feels this way? How are fear and worship intertwined for the Haddesley family?

5. The Bog Wife draws from a tradition of fairy tales about men who marry magical non-human women, such as selkie stories. What does the novel suggest are the consequences of this kind of marriage? How does the marriage between Charles Haddesley and the bog-wife seem to affect their children’s views on marriage, love, and sexuality?

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