The Night Ocean is most successful as a sort of meditation on the nature of truth via storytelling- at what point does a non-factual tale become part of the remembered canon based solely on its persistence?

In terms of plot, this novel is much less successful. La Farge establishes a mystery hook- is Marina's husband Charlie truly dead, or has he disappeared in the way that Robert Barlow, his subject, claims to have made his exit from society? Marina takes the reader on an intensive journey through Charlie's research into the lives of HP Lovecraft, Barlow, and others in an effort to make sense of Charlie's downfall. Unfortunately, there is no satisfying conclusion, and the detailed excursions into narratives that may not even be true become incredibly exhausting. Maybe that's the point, but it's annoying.