What do readers think of The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister? Write your own review.

I enjoyed the book. It's not my usual genre; so, my review rating may be a little biased. I am also confused about the plot. I first thought it was supernatural. Then, as I continued reading, I thought it was more about the stories and oral history passed down through generations. To the family members, these stories become the truth even though it's not. Then, I felt it again turned supernatural. This left me a bit confused. Again, this may be to my experience this genre.

I did enjoy the book. This is a book about family and the siblings within the family. Family dynamics are complicated. I enjoyed learning about all about the siblings, their family history, and their environment. I would recommend this book, especially to someone who is a huge fan of the supernatural genre.

Kudos to Kay Chronister for crafting a storyline that is truly unlike any other I have read! Her writing style provided descriptive chapters focusing on each of the five Haddesley siblings helping this confused reader follow along with pursued interest. My senses were heightened by each account of the bog area to the point of imagining the intense smells that emanated from the damp Appalachian homestead. Truth be told, I considered giving up on the story multiple times; the family dynamics were too dysfunctional for my taste. The father of this isolated family was delusional, abusive, and deceptive creating a legacy of under-educated, dirty, misguided young adults reminiscent of a survivalist mentality. The generational storyline was just too bizarre for my liking! The manor house would easily be condemned and yet family members continued to cling to the decaying structure as their only lifeline; readers will shake their heads in disbelief. The author finally explains the mother's disappearance in the final chapters, but by then this reader was only finishing the book to be polite.

The Bog Wife is a gothic novel based around a dysfunctional family, The Haddesleys. It gives the creepiness feels, but I did not find one character that I wanted to know more about before the book ended. The children had all been raised away from the real world to believe there were certain rules and traditions that must be followed or their land and home would no longer be theirs. They were lied to all along. The story screamed "cult" to me, even though it involved only one family. The writing was very good and set off scary, underlying feelings. I am not sure I would recommend it.

I enjoyed most of The Bog Wife, but struggled to finish it. I flew through the first 3/4 of the book which I perceived to be about family truths. Things you believe to be true due to the stories you are told growing up. The Haddesley children are raised with stories of a compact with the bog and generations of the Haddesleys. The compact requires to bog to produce a wife for the eldest Haddesley son. The truth behind this compact begins to unravel and I was excited to see what direction the children would go. The novel then took an odd turn into the supernatural with the presumed dead mother. I struggled to get through the book after this. It did not appeal to me at all. I would not recommend this book.

The Bog Wife started out with little "introduction" to the story or it's characters. The reader is given the legend of the story and immediately put into the activity of its actors. It is a dark and strange family tale about an isolated group of siblings that have lived their entire lives away from the outside world. One daughter, who left 10 years before, has been summoned to return for the death of her father and complete an ancient ritual.
It took me some time to make sense of the story, which kept drawing me back in at moments when I was not sure I wanted to continue. Given the book's initial description, I did not enjoy the story as much as I thought I would have. The story was confusing especially where Wenna and her relationship with her family was concerned. The relationship with her husband was confusing especially when Nora got involved and it became unrealistically strange. The story seemed to be supernatural and then seemed to be an elaborate falsehood and then back to the supernatural. The family members were all rather disconnected and unlikeable. The point of the story was never made clear by the end and it felt like the author just ended the story.

I usually enjoy fantasy, but this novel was too bizarre for me. The Haddesley family was so dysfunctional. The idea of a "bog wife" created from vegetation was weird. The mother who mysteriously disappeared is discovered alive in the bog and two of the children decide to return to the earth with her. I finished it, but can't recommend it. I gave it a 3 because I liked the writing style.

Weena has been summoned to come home because her father is dying. Not an unusual circumstance for most people, yet consequential for the Haddesley family and their ancestral cranberry bog.
The impending death means an ancient ritual must be performed that will insure survival for her siblings and the family compound. Weena is the only one of four children who has "gone over the property line" to experience life away from the bog and she is not coming back willingly.
The Bog Wife could easily have been a family drama about children denied access to 'real world' experiences with the consequent denial, rebellion and retribution. Chronister mixes in a supernatural element of an ancient compact that if unheeded (or disbelieved) could result in desolation of both family and land. Weena and her siblings navigate through their family history both real and imagined, striving to find their individual ways with varied results. Recommended for fans of dysfunctional family sagas exacerbated by supernatural forces.

The book was set in the Appalachian area where folktales and superstitions are prevalent. I did find the storyline a bit confusing in the beginning until I was able to figure out all of the characters and their position in the family. I did have to reread some of the prose to keep track of the plot because it was a bit wordy at times. Overall, I did enjoy the book but I found it to be a bit creepy, weird, haunting, and unpredictable. This may have not been the genre for me but if you love the supernatural and the gothic this is the book for you.