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Last year, I had the opportunity to read and review Magic by Mike Russell. I enjoyed that book so I was delighted when StrangeBooks contacted me again to review Mike Russell’s newest book, The Man Whose Wife Was The Moon. The title immediately caught my attention – how could his wife be the moon? I soon found out when I delved into this intriguing story.
What is this book about?
You can probably guess from the title that this is a quirky, unusual book! It is about a man, Arthur Hart, who has an unusual love, bordering on obsession, for the moon. He goes around schools giving lectures on the moon and the feminine nature ‘she’ embodies. His wife, Molly, takes a potion that has the side effect of causing Arthur to believe, for 28 days, that his wife and the moon are one and the same. As you can imagine, this gets Arthur into all kinds of trouble and ridiculous situations.
What is it like to read?
This book has a similar style to Magic in that it is simplistically written, but it is definitely not a children’s book because it contains some violence and adult themes. It is full of strange, random and unexpected happenings, and dreamlike scenes. Having already read another of Mike Russell’s books, I am used to his writing style so I wasn’t so surprised this time around.
The book is really short, only 75 pages (in the e-book version) so it’s a quick read. It took me less than 2 hours to read in total.
Is there a message behind this book?
When I read Magic, there was a clear message behind the story. The Man Whose Wife Was The Moon also has a message, but it is not quite as clear and easy to understand. I think the message is about the importance of the feminine, and the need for a balance of masculine and feminine in the world and in individuals. However, there is a lot of symbolism in this book, and there were parts of the story that I didn’t fully understand. This is a book that will certainly get you thinking and it is ambiguous enough that you can draw your own meaning and message from it.
Would I recommend The Man Whose Wife Was The Moon?
You can’t go wrong with reading this book. It will only take you a couple of hours to read and there is so much packed into it. It’s silly, funny, evocative and a totally unique concept. Definitely a strange and random book but enjoyable in its own way. If you want to read something that is completely different from anything you’ve read before, I 100% recommend this book.
You can find The Man Whose Wife Was The Moon on the StrangeBooks website, on Goodreads, or buy it from Amazon.
I would rate The Man Whose Wife Was The Moon 4 stars!
