There is one aspect of Joyce Carol Oates' writing that most readers, I believe, would agree with: and that is "disturbing." This writer can conjure the macabre in a way that sizzles under the surface, keeping the reader turning the pages, not knowing where the tale may lead.
The
last novel that I read by this master was
Beasts: another, of course, disturbing tale. It
astonishes me that I have not read more of her work - but as the saying
goes - so many great books and so little time.
In
A Fair Maiden, without question, the novel could not be put down
until the last page.
We
have the main character, Katya Spivak, a woman about 16 years of
age from the suburbs of New Jersey. She is the youngest sibling and
daughter to a single mother because her husband deserted the family
as he was a consummate gambler, and it can be deduced he left because of
heavy gambling debts. Katya is a pretty girl: blond, athletic body, and beautiful eyes. Unfortunately, she also has terrible confidence that
she shields from the world. Katya lands a nanny for a
well-to-do family in the very wealthy Bayhead Harbor, New Jersey.
Bayhead is a mixture of new money and old; her employers are of the
new variety. Katya is happy with her job, mainly because she's
away from her lower-middle-class roots. As Katya is happily feeding
the birds in Bayhead Park with the three-year-old, Tricia and baby
Kevin, enter the elegant yet eccentric older gentleman, Marcus Cullen
Kidder.
Kidder
is old money and refers to the new inhabitants of Bayhead Harbor as
"Mayflies." But, as the reader discovers, Kidder is a true
American Aristocrat: a highly educated painter, writer, musician, and
philanthropist who becomes obsessed with Katya.
A
Fair Maiden is about Katya's and Kidder's growing relationship. As
the story evolves, the reader believes one thing; however,
it turns out much different.
To
say the least, A Fair Maiden is the most sophisticated and alluring
piece of literary fiction that I've read for some time.
About
a third way through the reading, I was making comparisons to
Nabokov's "Lolita," but nothing can be further from the
truth.
A
Fair Maiden stands alone - a strange and touching love story.
My
suggestion is to put A Fair Maiden on your reading list.
This
novel will not disappoint.
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