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A review by ronanmcd
A Fair Maiden by Joyce Carol Oates
5.0
How should one describe this book? A thriller? A novel of suspense? Certainly crimes are committed (as in nearly all good fiction), but it's not a crime novel. A romance? The relationship is never that, or perhaps it is. A coming of age, cautionary tale?
Honestly, I have no idea. I neither could, nor want to, pigeonhole the book. It is a slippery, tormenting book on a twisted relationship. And it is never less than horribly compelling.
We never really resolve right from wrong, never find coordinates on our moral compass. We are set adrift, having compassion for a sexual predator, and veering between mistrust and disbelief of an innocent. It is wonderful.
Honestly, I have no idea. I neither could, nor want to, pigeonhole the book. It is a slippery, tormenting book on a twisted relationship. And it is never less than horribly compelling.
We never really resolve right from wrong, never find coordinates on our moral compass. We are set adrift, having compassion for a sexual predator, and veering between mistrust and disbelief of an innocent. It is wonderful.