The unforgettable story of the rise, fall and ultimate redemption of an American family. Selected by Oprah Winfrey Book Club. / An Oprah Winfrey Book Club Selection - 'I read this book over a year ago, but this family still haunts me.' Oprah Winfrey / Following in the wake of Joyce Carol Oates's critically acclaimed novel 'Blonde' / To be submitted for Summer Reading promotions / Sure to lead paperback review coverage / 'It is a book that will break your heart, heal it, then break it again every time you think about it." Los Angeles Times / 'Novelists such as John Updike, Philip Roth, Tom Wolfe and Norman Mailer slug it out for the title of the Great American Novelist. But maybe they're wrong. Maybe, just maybe, the Great American Novelist is a woman.' The Herald, review of Blonde
A masterful novel about a violent crime and its reverberations throughout a community – as timely and relevant in 2019 as it was when first published in 2001
Paperback
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Summary
The unforgettable story of the rise, fall and ultimate redemption of an American family. Selected by Oprah Winfrey Book Club. / An Oprah Winfrey Book Club Selection - 'I read this book over a year ago, but this family still haunts me.' Oprah Winfrey / Following in the wake of Joyce Carol Oates's critically acclaimed novel 'Blonde' / To be submitted for Summer Reading promotions / Sure to lead paperback review coverage / 'It is a book that will break your heart, heal it, then break it again every time you think about it." Los Angeles Times / 'Novelists such as John Updike, Philip Roth, Tom Wolfe and Norman Mailer slug it out for the title of the Great American Novelist. But maybe they're wrong. Maybe, just maybe, the Great American Novelist is a woman.' The Herald, review of Blonde
A masterful novel about a violent crime and its reverberations throughout a community – as timely and relevant in 2019 as it was when first published in 2001
Description
A masterful novel about a violent crime and its reverberations throughout a community – as timely and relevant in 2019 as it was when first published in 2001
‘We were the Mulvaneys, remember us? For a long time you envied us, then you pitied us. For a long time you admired us, then you thought Good! that’s what they deserve.’
The Mulvaneys of High Point Farm are blessed. But then, on Valentine’s Day 1976, something happens to Marianne, the pretty sixteen-year-old daughter, and nothing will ever be the same again …
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Critic Reviews
“'I read this book over a year ago, but this family still haunts me.' Oprah Winfrey 'We Were the Mulvaneys works not simply because of its meticulous details and gestures…What keeps us coming back to Oates Country is something stronger and spookier: her uncanny gift of making the page a window, with something on the other side that we'd swear was life itself.' The New York Times Book Review 'It is a book that will break your heart, heal it, then break it again every time you think about it.' Los Angeles Times 'A brilliantly detailed and varied picture of family life and a succession of dramatic set pieces…These are people we recognise, and she makes us care deeply about them.' Kirkuss”
'We Were the Mulvaneys works not simply because of its meticulous details and gestures!. What keeps us coming back to Oates Country is something stronger and spookier: her uncanny gift of making the page a window, with something on the other side that we'd swear was life itself.' David Gates, The New York Times Book Review 'A brilliantly detailed and varied picture of family life and a succession of dramatic set pieces!These are people we recognise, and she makes us care deeply about them.' Kirkus Prasie for 'Blonde': 'A torrentially imaginative, compulsively readable tour de force.' Sunday Telegraph 'A mighty -- and a mesmerising -- book.' Elaine Showalter, Literary Review 'If you haven't read Joyce Carol Oates before, start here, and now.' Julie Myerson, Independent
About the Author
Joyce Carol Oates is a recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Book Award and the PEN / Malamud Award, and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Her books include We Were the Mulvaneys, Blonde, Carthage, A Book of American Martyrs and Hazards of Time Travel. She is Professor of Humanities at Princeton University.
Back Cover
The Mulvaneys are seemingly blessed by everything that makes life sweet. They live together in the picture-perfect High Point Farm, just outside the community of Mt Ephraim, New York, where they are respected and liked by everybody. Yet something happens on Valentine's Day 1976. An incident involving Marianne Mulvaney, the pretty sixteen-year-old daughter, is hushed up in the town and never discussed within the family. The impact of this event reverberates throughout the lives of the characters. As told by Judd, years later, in an attempt to make sense of his own past reveals the unspoken truths of that night that rends the fabric of the family life with tragic consequences. In We Were the Mulvaneys, Joyce Carol Oates, the highly acclaimed author of Blonde, masterfully weaves an unforgettable story of the rise, fall and ultimate redemption of an American family. "Novelists such as John Updike, Philip Roth, Tom Wolfe and Norman Mailer slug it out for the title of the Great American Novelist. But maybe they're wrong. Maybe, just maybe, the Great American Novelist is a woman."Herald "Oates finest... a major achievement."Chicago Tribute
The unforgettable story of the rise, fall and ultimate redemption of an American family. The Mulvaneys are seemingly blessed by everything that makes life sweet. They live together in the picture-perfect High Point Farm, just outside the community of Mt Ephraim, New York, where they are respected and liked by everybody. Yet something happens on Valentine's Day 1976. An incident involving Marianne Mulvaney, the pretty sixteen-year-old daughter, is hushed up in the town and never discussed within the family. The impact of this event reverberates throughout the lives of the characters.As told by Judd, years later, in an attempt to make sense of his own past reveals the unspoken truths of that night that rends the fabric of the family life with tragic consequences. In 'We Were the Mulvaneys', Joyce Carol Oates, the highly acclaimed author of 'Blonde', masterfully weaves an unforgettable story of the rise, fall and ultimate redemption of an American family.
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