The Nature of Things

The "mere" in the title of this book can be read two ways. It can be mere as in "only" or it can refer to a geological feature, a kind of lake. The mere (only) wife is Willa Herot, a suburban wife and mother living with her husband and son in a mansion that backs up to a mountain with a sulfurous lake at its foot.  The mere (lake) wife is Dana Mills. Her story is more complicated.  Dana was an American marine fighting in the war in Iraq after 9/11. Her unit was caught in a firefight where everyone was killed except for Dana. She was taken prisoner and was dragged before video cameras by her captors where she was supposedly beheaded. The video was seen around the world. Six months later she wakes up buried in sand and six months pregnant from a sexual encounter which she does not remember. Was it rape or a consensual act? She has no idea. She is returned to the United States where she gives birth to a son, Gren (Grendel). Scarred from war wounds, suffering from PTSD,...