I'll Take You There

by Joyce Carol Oates

I'll Take You There is told by a woman looking back on her first years of college, at Syracuse in the 1970s. Her story, softened by the gauze of memory and the relief of having survived, nonetheless captures a harrowing ordeal of alienation and despair, heightened by a wrenching interracial love affair and her father's death.

Cursed by insatiable yearning and constant dissatisfaction, "Anellia" has always been haunted by her mother. With her father and brothers making her feel responsible for her mother's death, she longs for acceptance and the warmth of human compassion. When Anellia begins college, she naively seeks that compassion at a sorority house, with disastrous results. Gradually she descends to deeper levels of estrangement, until she is nearly an outcast. She is swept up in a turbulent love affair with a black philosophy student only to be abandoned. Her sense of rejection reaches a turning point when she's called away to be with her dying father.

With deftly cast philosophical meditations -- on love, death, identity, the body -- I'll Take You There is a portrait of a young woman surprised to discover strength in simply enduring. It is a thought-provoking meditation on the existential questions that arise in burgeoning adulthood, a tender evocation of the dignity and power of young love.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Novels, The United States Of America, Coming Of Age, Ebooks

290 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Joyce Carol Oates is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels Black Water (1992), What I Lived For (1994), and Blonde (2000), and her short story collections The Wheel of Love (1970) and Lovely, Dark, Deep: Stories (2014) were each finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. She has won many awards for her writing, including the National Book Award, for her novel Them (1969), two O. Henry Awards, the National Humanities Medal, and the Jerusalem Prize (2019).
Oates taught at Princeton University from 1978 to 2014, and is the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor Emerita in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing. From 2016 to 2020, she was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught short fiction in the spring semesters. She now teaches at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
Oates was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2016.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. I really did not like this book. I was about 1/3 of the way through by the time I decided I really didn't care for it, though, and I didn't have anything else to read at lunch, so I decided just to stick with it.

I recently read an interview with Joyce Carol Oates where she said this was the most autobiographical of all her books. If that's the case, apparently I violently dislike Joyce Carol Oates, or at least I would have when she was in college. The unnamed (or multi-named) protagonist leaves her emotionally distant family for college and proceeds to try to fill the need she feels for family. First, at a sorority, then with a guy. (I was greek in college, but my feelings towards this book aren't really related to the negative portrayal of the greek system. Her portrayal is fair, especially, I imagine, for the early 60's.) Neither of these attempts worked out. And if she had taken five minutes to think about the consequences of her actions, she would have seen what a debacle both would have been.

Usually I side with the outsiders, losers and weirdos, but this time I was siding with the pack. It's not just that the heroine here was a freak, it was that she didn't have any good reason for being one, or for putting herself in a situation where it would matter. And later, she's a snivelling synchophant with her black boyfriend (who she claims she fell in love with hearing his voice from the back of the class before she knew his race, but at this point in the book she is so eager to show up her former sorority sisters and other figures of authority and normalcy that the claim isn't credible).

The other thing about this book was that the descriptions of things like body functions & odor, dirty hair, stuffy rooms and even (actually, especially) food are graphic to the point of being nauseating. I wasn't wanting or expecting a book about a college girl to put me off my lunch!

[Jim Leckband · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oates tackles some philosophy in this one. She references ontology, existentialism (she explicitly names a philosophy grad student "Matheius" which is similar to the protagonist "Mathieu" of Sartre's "The Age of Reason"), Spinoza, Nietzche, Plato, idealism, Wittgenstein's language theory etc. and that is just what I remember - I'm sure I'm missing some of them.

But what is the point of this and does it make an interesting novel? I think it does. Who else but Oates would foist all this philosophical baggage on a college-age heroine (or really, anti-heroine)? Oates has always been concerned with the place of young women in America and how they are identified and self-identified in our culture. This is where the philosophy comes in - she uses philosophy as a way to understand the coming of age and reason of a woman through her struggles in her roles as sorority sister (!), "Negro-lover" (Oates' term), and daughter. In fact her identity crisis is so severe we never know her real name - other characters don't bother to learn her name correctly or intentionally use "Anellia" which the narrator says is close but not her name.

Much is made of Plato's Cave - in the book you can read it as a metaphor for the narrator's blindness in knowing who she is - and for the strictures that society puts on women. There is an "ideal woman" so to speak, but it is hard to get there.

Which is where the title of the book comes in. The narrator finally finds her freedom to find out who she is through writing - and through these writings at the end of the book she says "I'll Take You There".

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read most of this book on a plane — not the best choice if you're looking for a calm, light-hearted read. This was my first Joyce Carol Oates novel and it certainly won't be my last. It seems like a lot of people found the narrator ("Anellia" though her real name is a matter of dispute) too self-obsessive and not likable. I had the opposite reaction - surrounded by a society and people she can no longer relate to (the Kappas), Anellia emerges as a fiercly independent and self-expressive woman. I thought her love affair with Vernor was the most compelling part of the novel, and my only complaint would be the last third of the book. I wasn't a fan of the "daddy is dying, let's make amends" issue. Oates seems like a very gothic writer, and there is some beautiful prose:

"Alone, alone. I pushed away into the void like a solitary swimmer pushing out into freezing water; for all swimmers are solitary in such bitter regions of the soul."

"That season when I carried myself in the world like glass so fragile it might shatter at any moment."

"My thoughts beat like moths against a screen."

[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have decided to try to read as many of Joce Carol Oates that are available in my library as possible. It's an interesting journey as her books are a very mixed bag for me. I never know going in if I'm going to like them or not. Sadly this is in the "not my cup of tea" pile. I enjoy her way of writing but I did not connect or get invested i. The book overall. But not a bad book

[Jaksen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another dnf. I've had too many lately.

A girl circa early 60's, from a very dysfunctional family, gets a scholarship to college, and she's a gifted girl, keep that in mind. Problem is, the sorority she joins is just filled with jerks. Yep, it's a trope but usually Ms. Oates can take a trope and turn it on its head...

Well, that part was pretty good, but as the story moves along and said girl falls in love with a black man, a PhD candidate in philosophy, and sort of stalks and annoys him until he notices her and then...

I lost interest. Problem is if I don't care about the MC, or any of the lesser ones, then the book sort of sits in my lap while I stare out the window.

I still like JCO and many of her books; they are among some of my favorites.

Just not this one.

[Barbara Joan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some books by Joyce Carol Oates I've loved, but not this one. A depressing, dreary reading experience. No change of mood. No likeable characters. Not that these qualities matter, if the writing can move you in other ways.

[BarbaraW · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stark little book. Sometimes you’re too smart for your own good. Trying to be an independent woman in the early 60s. Try that one.

[Mary Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh, JCO. What are we going to do with you? As usual, Oates' writing is impeccable, her voice distinct and descriptions lovely, but I could not have picked a more boring subject matter if I had posed the challenge to a doornail. A sorority girl losing her sanity and health, periodically going on long winded tangents about how very, very, VERY British (ahem, English, ahem) her sorority's house mother is. This entire section of the book is filled with her making bad decision after bad decision and me wondering why on Earth she became valedictorian of her high school and university classes. She's allergic to common sense, clearly. Then she leaves the sorority and it becomes a completely different book! It's all about her black boyfriend and how very, very, VERY black he is (and how very white she is) and how good he is at philosophy. Because History is stupid apparently. Then, when she leaves her boyfriend to go see her (spoiler alert) not quite dead father who she had thought was dead, it becomes still a different book. Why Oates thought it necessary to compound the three, each one more boring and tedious than the last, I have no idea.

That being said, it had good moments, but overall felt like Oates had stumbled upon her undergraduate philosophy notebook and decided to, somehow, make use of them. This is the result. Joyce Carol Oates is brilliant, but this was written on a bad day. Pick up her short story collections instead.

[Kinga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like a Greek tragedy this book is made up of three acts in which the main character falls apart and picks herself up again.
I must say the parts were a little too clean cut to me. It really felt like three novellas rather than one novel. It was my first Joyce Carol Oates' book and I can already tell I will be a fan even if this one was just a 3 star effort really. I threw one more star in because girl bullying and interracial relationships are one of my favourite literary subjects. All in all it was a sad, beautifully written coming of age novel about a girl who is too smart for her own good.

[Ruby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never dislike Joyce Carol Oates, but sometimes I have a shoulder shrug reaction to her work. This was one of those books. It was beautifully written, and definitely took me back to college days. Primarily because it is about the slow and painful emergence of a person, through insecurity, the freshness of first love, the hardening that comes from suffering through shattering loss. So I'm calling it a good book, but something about it didn't quite hold together and I didn't love it like I tend to love her short stories. Still, she's Joyce Carol Oates and she wields a mighty pen.

[Felicia Bengtsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Älskar. När jag hade ca 20 sidor kvar av boken så glömde jag den i Uppsala innan jag åkte till Indonesien. I 2 veckor fick jag gå runt och längta efter den (fröjd😌). Skulle rekommendera denna bok till alla som pluggar på universitetet eller känner sig ensamma eller har familjeproblem eller en fin kombination av allt. Oats refererar och citerar en rad filosofer genom bokens gång främst Wittgenstein vilket gjorde mig sugen på att läsa nånting från honom. På grund av detta dras betyget ner till 4 stjärnor.

[H. P. Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last two Joyce Carol Oates books I read were distasteful to me. But this book reminded me of her excellence and why she is never to be dismissed. Here, her vast understanding of the human psyche, her ability to write the perfect inner dialogue while breaking writing rules such as "Complete sentences only" and "No run-on sentences" and her magical touch with characterization inform every page. Her Anellia, whose real name we never learn, is so real and so raw much of the story that her breath almost brushes our ears when she speaks. Her Vernor Mathies' indignation and passion reads as real as the 1960s news he refuses to read, afraid it will involve him in the civil rights struggle of his race. And, while the book is mostly set in the 1960s, the message written deeply into the story is one we need today. For Oates is clear about one thing: running away from a world you don't like is costly. Non-involvement kills. It does not just kill the one running; it destroys portions of other peoples' spirits. Despite the heaviness of the plot, something of hopefulness is suggested by the end of the book. The heroine turns out to be a true modern heroine of her own story.

[BAM who is Beth Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

i found that this book said so little, but said so much. what i mean is that there was no point to telling the story, except to tell the story. am i being too cryptic?

let me try again.

the novel tell the first person account of the 4 college years in the life of a nameless woman in the early 60's. in between her stories of joining a sorority, falling in love with a black man, and meeting her thought to be dead father, we find a complex woman....obsessive, neurotic, super intelligent and completely full of sometimes annoying and sometimes interesting idiosyncrasies.

the fact that the story is told first person makes the novel stark and without answers to many many questions that arise in the reader's mind. but i think that's the point of it. so that you feel the lonliness and sometimes craziness of the narrator.

her story kept me reading...though it definitely isn't one of oates' best novels to date.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

JCO introduces her readers to a fascinating woman in this novel. She is desperate to fit into almost any place that will have her; she seeks identity, companionship and a sense of belonging that has eluded her all of her life. As is often the case, our greatest strength may also be our greatest detriment. "Annelia's" intellectual pursuits and abilities lead her to seek definition through another character, Vernor, who uses and discards her just as her sorority did. I felt intense compassion for Annelia in her quest for friendship and belonging. Often the most vulnerable among us are those most victimized: which comes first? I found the philosophical quotations and discussions that weave through this book in increasing frequency to be an integral part of the exploration of the initiation into adulthood.

[Lauren Hartney · Rating 3 out of 5]

good one. vintage oates. 1960's bi-racial relationship--stark, simple, compelling.

[Aspen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joyce Carol Oates has a magnificent way of explaining emotions in a way I've never read before. Written from a naive girl's point of view. Glad I was recommended this book!

[Dav · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll Take You There (2002)
• by Joyce Carol Oates


The woman telling this story of her college years in the early 1960s does not give her name. Her father, a gruf, unaffectionate, single parent refered to her as "You." The house mother at her sorority called her by a variety of incorrect names, including Mary Alice. To impress her grad student boyfriend she invented for herself the name Anellia.

Part 1.
She grew up with three brothers much older than herself; Dietrich 11 years older, Fritz 10 years older and Hendrick 7 years older. Since her mom died when she was just one and a half years old, they blame her for mom's death. Dad's work (construction) keeps him away for weeks or months at a time. The kids are raised by their paternal grandparents on a 12 acre dairy farm.

At Syracuse University, in New York, (1962 ?) she has a friend who encourages her to pledge the sorority Kappa Gamma Pi. She's always wanted a sister; longed for sisters and in the sorority she has the chance to join a Sisterhood. At first this naive, 19 year old, High School Valedictorian, with a college scholarship, is thrilled with the sorority.

Ironically in the Sisterhood she gets sisters who behave like actual big sisters. They demean her, hang out with her roommate, smoking, crowding her out of her own room and lying on her bed. They use her to rewrite their term papers and ignore or castigate her the rest of the time. She's soon in distress.

Not only does she not fit in with these contemptuous, affluent gals, she's in serious debt, working several jobs, scavenging for food, neglecting her hygiene and health--she's on her way to a breakdown. The house mother Agnes Thayer cracks up as well. The sorority gals refer to Mrs. Thayer as the Brit Bitch and conspire to torment her and have her fired.

After being voted out (February 1963) by the sisters she does better in the affordable campus housing. Her intense desire to become a Kappa gal clouded her judgment--she didn't consider how she would pay for it. And, the sorority turned out to be dominated by indelicate, drunken, smoking, rich girls who were known to "put out."

Part 2.
In her Ethics class she becomes obsessed with a philosophy grad student who is auditing the class. Soon she's hopelessly infatuated with Vernor Matheius, exactly like a lovesick high school girl. He's tall and black, she's short, slight and lily-white. Being 1963 this doesn't go over well, even in New York. She's a University honors student with a negro lover, 10 years her senior and is called before the dean of women to be reprimanded for this interracial relationship.

Incidentally their love affair is overly descriptive and unnecessarily detailed.

Fortunately while snooping at his home she finds photo's of the wife and kid he may have deserted, "It's none of your business," she's told. She also learns he's violent, as he punches her in his anger and calls her all manner of vile names. Well, that's over. Two years later, in 1965 she graduates and gives the valedictorian speech, after which she shakes the hand of the dean of women; the same one who reprimanded her. At their previous parting she had delivered an idle threat of a lawsuit over the school's racist policies.

Throughout the story are philosophical quotes from Kant, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein etc. which at times reflect the protagonist's situation.

This time period is the middle of the Civil Rights Movement, but the author doesn't spend much time on that conflict. The Medgar Evers murder in 1963 is mentioned as an event that throws Vernor into drinking, depression and illness.

Part 3.
He's alive. About 4 years earlier their father went west and was believed to be dead. Part of the time he was in prison and may have thought better dead than known as a jailbird to his kids. Her brother calls with the news that dad is alive, but now weeks away from dying of cancer at age 56. She's staying in a rented Vermont cabin working on her first book, for which she's already received an advance from the publisher.

From there she drives her VW beater bug 2,500 miles to the small town of Crescent, Utah. Her father is being nursed by his girlfriend / fiancee, Hildie Pomeroy. Dad has been disfigured by the disease and surgeries. He wants to see her, but doesn't want her to look at him; she mostly complies. She cares for this insensitive and occasionally cruel man, who hugged her when she graduated high school--the most affection he'd ever given her.

He can't speak and Hildie translates his garbled sounds. He left a will asking for his body to be buried next to his dead wife in the family cementary back in New York. Hildie is outraged at this insult. After transport and burial expenses, she sends the remainder of her dad's meager life insurance policy to Hildie ($3,200). The funeral is poorly attended and only one of her brothers was present; Fritz.

The story ends with her describing the new headstone for her mom and dad and comments she won't join them there, in that rocky soil; ending with "...but my family was now complete. If things work out between us, someday I'll take you there." Huh? Take who, where? Anyone know what the author ment by this?

Mostly interesting, a bit lackluster at times and an enigmatic final line.









••

[Ron Christiansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost stopped reading at page 50 and then again at about page 90--the whole mean sorority girl thing didn't work for me as they were flat seemingly unknowable characters. My rule is I must have some level of interest at page 50 and high level of interest by page 100 or I put it in my pile of not-worth-reading for ME. Luckily there was enough reflection on her blue-collar roots and rocky family life (father who left, blamed for her mother's death) I stuck with it but just barely.

But then a young "negro, "Vernon" enters, challenging the teacher in the main character's (Annelia?? we never know) philosophy class. From there things get interesting. Their relationship is unusual to say the least. For weeks Aneilia follows Vernon, entranced with his confident voice booming from the back of her class. Vernon pays her little attention; he is the embodiment of the philosopher king living contentedly in his own mind.

This relationship intrigued me throughout. They criss-cross, they bump up, they almost have sex, they move along in parallel journeys of self-discovery and academic success. One of the most frustrating couples I've ever come to know. What keeps us going is the intersection of their journey with the philosophical, often through the ideals of Wittgenstein to face the truth.

The prose style also frustrates. LONG sentences sprinkled freely with 6, 7 , 8 semi-colons. Yet I warmed to the style and felt it was quite effective in particular sections where the style reflected Anneilia's own frantic mind and struggles to see herself as an independent agent deserving of attention and love.

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Att plocka upp en random bok av en författare som producerat så mycket som Oates och inse hur stort hennes författarskap är, är fantastiskt.
Sträckläste "Jag ska ta dig dit" och kan inte säga annat än att hela boken berörde mig djupt, känslan av rotlöshet och önskan att få känna sig hemma gjorde mig tårögd mer än en gång. Att väva in filosofi som Oates gjort är väldigt skickligt och brytningen med det filosofiska i slutet gör boken än mer förtjänstfull än om den hade hängt kvar vid och försökt övertyga läsaren om filosofins betydelse. Dessutom är "Jag ska ta dig dit" vacker i att den försöker ge läsaren en väg vidare efter uppbrottet, ett slags försoningstanke eller en nick mot att förlåtelse är möjligt även utanför en kristen/religiös kontext. Att erbjuda sin läsare en sådan väg, och då genom att göra det så graciöst som Oates, är för mig en storslagen och ovanlig gest hos en författare verksam idag.

[Diem · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this one because it dealt with several topics of particular interest to me. Race relations, interracial relationships, Central New York, and Syracuse University.

I struggle with JCO's writing. The lyrical wordplay is hard for me to enjoy as much as I feel like I should. I tend to feel a little bit outside of whatever she's discussing and a little bit solitary in my outsider status. Like when I was in school and part of the intellectual crowd but not part of that elite intellectual crowd that were inordinately interested in things that seemed so obviously boring or wildly esoteric and ungraspable.

That said, I did still really like this book. It felt a bit like walking through someone's dream.

[Salem ☥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

"I was nineteen years five months old when I fell in love for the first time. This seemed to me a profound, advanced age; never can we anticipate being older than we are, or wiser; if we're exhausted, it's impossible to anticipate being strong; as, in the grip of a dream, we rarely understand that we're dreaming, and will escape by the simplest of methods, opening our eyes."

I can't believe I've finally read a JCO book that I didn't enjoy. Ugh! The main story wasn't bad, but the protagonist is a bit too insufferable, despite it being semi-autobiographical. The outdated terminology for a book from the 2000s also kept irking me.

[Barbaros Gokdemir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uzun süredir bu kadar akıcı bir metin okuduğumu hatırlamıyorum. Çok iyi geldi.
Çevirmen Alev Bulut'un da bunda katkısı olduğunu düşünüyorum. Acaba yazara kendi dilinde mi yoksa Alev Bulut'un çevirileri ile mi devam etmeliyim; bilmiyorum.

[Marti · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-written sad story.

[Abbie | ab_reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

You guys I’m so disappointed in this one! You might remember my ‘currently reading’ post for this one where I said I was really enjoying it... Turns out after Part One it just goes drastically downhill. I completely lost interest as it descended into philosophical ramblings and the main character becoming obsessed with her boyfriend, whereas the sorority aspect had seemed so promising to begin with.
.
We had an unlikeable protagonist in a questionable sorority house setting which just sets up a whole host of interesting storylines... and then the protagonist falls in love with a mature black student, and a figure from her past she thought was dead comes back to life, and honestly I’ve forgotten what happened next because it was a struggle to keep my eyes open and I ended up starting East of Eden instead and I totally just skimmed Part Three - I ADMIT IT.
.
BUT I won’t be giving up on JCO! I really liked her actual writing, and I’d like to try some of her darker, creepy stuff!

[Graham Wilhauk · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are those books that make you feel great and there are books that make you feel like garbage.

There are also books that drag your entire existence to bedrock and makes you feel like crap while you somehow find an eye-opening amount of joy in it.

That is what JCO did to me with this.

It might be because of the collegiate setting and certain aspects of this story hitting extremely close to home. Yet it also shows the utterly raw power that JCO has in her writing. There’s no denying my opinion of JCO being a modern master and this book is only another incredible piece to her LOADED bibliography. Well developed characters and a setting that makes you feel like you’re going through this with our broken protagonist (for better or for worse). Yet, I didn’t give this book a perfect 5 out of 5. If this book made such an impact on you, why did you only give it a 4 star rating?

1. Hold your horses, that 4 ain’t flat.

2. To be honest, there is one problem that I did have with this book. You know how this book made me question my existence and made me feel like walking garbage? Well, that’s because this book has TOO much emotion to it. It works very well but it is DEFINITELY overbearing at times. Even for JCO’s standards, this book is DEPRESSING and, while it’s great, is the main reason why I say to not start with this one.

If you’re new to JCO, “We Were the Mulvaneys” and “Blonde” will do you much better. However, if you are at least a semi-veteran with this author, than it is a must read.

I am giving this one a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

[Sherhazade]

I have tended in the past to like Joyce Carol Oates' short stories best of all her works. I've used a couple of them in the classroom. "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is the most popular with students, a personal favorite, and probably the most widely anthologized of her stories. I've never really been into her novels, but the last one I read, Black Girl, White Girl, was really good. I've noticed similarities among many of her female protagonists--meek, sensitive, nervous, lacking self-esteem. The one in this book is intriguing because she tends to be obsessive. Her characters in general seem very "round." Even the most minor character who never even appears takes on a distinct personality.

A student of mine wrote a paper about Oates' novella Black Water last semester. The story is very similar to the Chappaquiddick incident. Sounds interesting. I may put it on my list.

UPDATE: Not the worst; not the best. Everyone bullies the main character sans mercy, and that gets a bit old. My recommendation is that you make sure you have someone available to punch in the face on occasion while reading this book.

[Géraldine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plus de deux mois de lecture à petits pas mais j'ai fini par accrocher à ce qui est finalement une relecture.

C'est un roman difficile à approcher du fait de son atmosphère très sombre. Le personnage principal, Anellia est pluriel, accrocheur, à la fois rebelle et sensible. C'est le portrait d'une adolescente devenant adulte en faisant l'expérience de la vie en communauté, d'un premier amour et finalement du décès de son père. J'ai senti l'évolution du caractère de la jeune femme (ce que je n'avais pas senti lors de ma première lecture), plutôt rebelle sans cause au début, et plus cohérente à la fin, dans un dépassement de ses traumatismes d'enfance et de ses souffrance d'adolescente qui montre que toute difficulté construit aussi.

En toile de fond l'auteur soulève les problèmes raciaux, une critique acérée de certains milieux et de la vie en communauté féminines et la philosophie.

En conclusion un roman peu gai, dense, et finalement optimiste, qui vaut l'effort de lecture.

[Bonnie Thrasher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never had a desire to pledge a sorority, nor felt the brutality of being shunned by the sisterhood; I've never had a relationship with someone of a different race; I've never been abandoned by a parent; I've never been rejected by siblings. I've never scavenged for food. I've never had a psychotic episode. YET, Oates transported me to the fetal position inside Anellia as she lived these soul crushing scenarios. The first half of the novel during the sorority days was the most powerful. For who among American women does not know someone who was destroyed by Greek rejection? This novel shreds the reader's heart over and over. It is magic, dark believable magic.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have always been an Oates fan, but I could not get interested in this story or the characters. Life is too short to read uninteresting books.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This felt a little different from a lot of the other Oates I've read, more raw perhaps. I liked it quite a bit. There's a number of interesting techniques Oates uses in this one in showing this woman's progression towards a more asserted identity, but even despite how rawly the text manages to present itself, you still don't notice them on the surface. Quite a skill to be able to balance that, be raw while still obscuring artifice. Well done and moving.