The Refrigerator Monologues

I’ve never been a fan of audiobooks, so I’m lucky that I got an introduction to them through Catherynne M. Valente’s The Refrigerator Monologues. Valente introduces us to six women from a Marvel/DC-esque world of superheroes, who have gathered in the afterlife to commiserate about being “refrigerated.” This term, coined by writer and feminist Gail Simone, describes the unfortunate tendency of comic books (and movies) to inflict death and suffering on female characters so male characters can experience growth. Valente has built an entire universe based on this phenomenon, giving us a powerful slice of life–and death–in the four-color world. She pays tribute to the imaginative power of supercomics, while simultaneously casting their flaws in a painfully honest light. Valente’s words, like the rest of her work, dance on the parge with the energy and grace of a tights-and-spandex fight. Her stories are complemented by Anne Wu’s lush drawings and brought to life by Karis A. Campbell’s incredible voice. We join Valente’s characters in their diverse struggles to escape stereotypes and show their world their perspective. These women are full-blooded, powerful heroines who will not let death or tradition silence them. Valente and her fellow witches have cooked up something glorious that everyone, from literature priests to hard-core comic nerds, should be lining up to savor.