A Fair Maiden
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Review
'Exceptional talent for the Gothic/thriller genre... the narrative tension becomes almost unbearable' TLS.
'Pure fairytale, a modern day Little Red Riding Hood in which Katya exacts her own revenge against the wolf... Oates has an indisputable ability to sustain ambient darkness and ominous unease' Guardian.
'The prose is taut, the insight shrewd and the violence vivid, but what lingers in the mind is the painful ambiguity of contemporary human interaction' New Statesman.
'A delightfully chilling and playful novella from a literary genius' Daily Mail.
'Pure fairytale, a modern day Little Red Riding Hood in which Katya exacts her own revenge against the wolf... Oates has an indisputable ability to sustain ambient darkness and ominous unease' Guardian.
'The prose is taut, the insight shrewd and the violence vivid, but what lingers in the mind is the painful ambiguity of contemporary human interaction' New Statesman.
'A delightfully chilling and playful novella from a literary genius' Daily Mail.
Product Description
Fifteen-year-old Katya Spivak is out for a walk on the streets of Bayhead Harbor, New Jersey, when she is approached by silver-haired, elegant Marcus Kidder. At first his interest in her seems harmless. The world he inhabits acts as a tonic to her drab existence. And as a children's book writer, he seems to be a man she can trust. His home is beautiful and he lavishes gifts on her. Everything about him is enticing - perhaps too enticing? Like a moth to the light Katya agrees to pose for a painting. But by degrees something changes. Being Mr Kidder's muse is not the easy endeavour it once was. What does he really want from her? And how far will he go to get it? This spare, chilling novel shows Joyce Carol Oates at the height of her powers as a literary storyteller.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Suzie's 3 stars are indeed mean!
I thoroughly enjoyed it. It doesn't pretend to be a thriller nor does it say it is. Although the pace is by no means slow, it's stready enough to build a picture of the protagonists without losing it's suspense. A subtle suspense but no less exciting.
Joyce Carol Oates has very adeptly captured the mind of a teenage girl when presented with the attention of an older man (even if quite old in this case).
I thoroughly enjoyed it. It doesn't pretend to be a thriller nor does it say it is. Although the pace is by no means slow, it's stready enough to build a picture of the protagonists without losing it's suspense. A subtle suspense but no less exciting.
Joyce Carol Oates has very adeptly captured the mind of a teenage girl when presented with the attention of an older man (even if quite old in this case).
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Joyce Carol Oates is one of a handful of highly rated American authors whose work I usually enjoy, but after finding her `Middle Age: A Romance' somewhat tedious I was unsure whether to bother with this book.
Katya, a fifteen-year-old from a poor area of New Jersey and working as a live-in nanny for wealthy parents during the summer holidays, meets Marcus Kidder, an elegant, ageing artist with a spacious house overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. His attentions both attract and repulse her.
The novel starts in a gentle, almost deceptively harmless way, but there is always the hint of possible menace. I'd hardly describe it, though, as a `novel of dark suspense' - the description on the front cover. Even so, as the end approaches, it's obvious something must be about to happen, but what that something is came as a surprise (at least it did to me, although looking back, there were intimations whose significance I had failed to register). Not quite a twist, a little shocking perhaps, and morally topical.
The viewpoint is Katya's and, even though the book is quite short, her character is well developed. The novel covers only a few weeks, but the author slowly feeds aspects of Katya's background into the story, so that she builds into a more rounded person, someone you feel you could get to know and understand even if you can't always like her. The style is fluent and easy, and descriptive without being fussy or flowery.
It's not the best book I've ever read but it's worth a read, unless you're looking for a fast-paced thriller in which case you'll be disappointed. I'd probably give it 7 out of 10 if that were a choice, so I've erred on the mean side and given it 3 stars. I still find the ending disturbing, a little repulsive even. Just trying to imagine myself in the place of that young girl renders the old gent, Marcus Kidder, even more creepy. It just wasn't a 4-star read for me. Read it and see what you think.
Katya, a fifteen-year-old from a poor area of New Jersey and working as a live-in nanny for wealthy parents during the summer holidays, meets Marcus Kidder, an elegant, ageing artist with a spacious house overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. His attentions both attract and repulse her.
The novel starts in a gentle, almost deceptively harmless way, but there is always the hint of possible menace. I'd hardly describe it, though, as a `novel of dark suspense' - the description on the front cover. Even so, as the end approaches, it's obvious something must be about to happen, but what that something is came as a surprise (at least it did to me, although looking back, there were intimations whose significance I had failed to register). Not quite a twist, a little shocking perhaps, and morally topical.
The viewpoint is Katya's and, even though the book is quite short, her character is well developed. The novel covers only a few weeks, but the author slowly feeds aspects of Katya's background into the story, so that she builds into a more rounded person, someone you feel you could get to know and understand even if you can't always like her. The style is fluent and easy, and descriptive without being fussy or flowery.
It's not the best book I've ever read but it's worth a read, unless you're looking for a fast-paced thriller in which case you'll be disappointed. I'd probably give it 7 out of 10 if that were a choice, so I've erred on the mean side and given it 3 stars. I still find the ending disturbing, a little repulsive even. Just trying to imagine myself in the place of that young girl renders the old gent, Marcus Kidder, even more creepy. It just wasn't a 4-star read for me. Read it and see what you think.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As if I don't have enough authors on my "must read" list, and now because of "A Fair Maiden" I have another; and to boot, an author with such an extensive back catalogue.
How could I have gone through life and not been told just how good Joyce Carol Oates is. Hooked from the first page I read the book in one sitting. The not knowing where Ms Oates was taking us kept me turning the pages. The heroine's ambivalence was well portraid, and Mr Kidder portraid as uncertainly sinister yet arousing our pity.
But her prose! A style to die for. I can only sit back in wonder at the skill, exactitude and beauty of her prose. Any aspiring writer who wants to learn the craft of sentence construction, so as to express exactly and correctly any nuance of meaning intended, could not find a better mentor than Joyce Carol Oates.
In two years time I hope to have read everything this author has written.
How could I have gone through life and not been told just how good Joyce Carol Oates is. Hooked from the first page I read the book in one sitting. The not knowing where Ms Oates was taking us kept me turning the pages. The heroine's ambivalence was well portraid, and Mr Kidder portraid as uncertainly sinister yet arousing our pity.
But her prose! A style to die for. I can only sit back in wonder at the skill, exactitude and beauty of her prose. Any aspiring writer who wants to learn the craft of sentence construction, so as to express exactly and correctly any nuance of meaning intended, could not find a better mentor than Joyce Carol Oates.
In two years time I hope to have read everything this author has written.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Hardly suspenseful and entirely predictable
A magnificent writer, but this feels like an idea that ran out of steam for me. Whilst the character of Katya is reasonably well drawn most of the others are comical and thin on... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Steerforth
A beautiful tale
Another beautiful novel by Ms Oates. She has this wonderful talent of lulling you in to a false sense of security as you read. Just when you think all is well........ Read more
Published 11 months ago by Freckles
Not one of her best
If you are new to JCO I suggest you put this one aside for later when you fall in love with her writing sufficiently to like her 'odds and evens'. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Felis
"Afraid of me, dear Katya? Surely not."
"Getting treasures by a lying tongue
Is the fleeting fantasy of those who seek death."
-- Proverbs 21:6
What kinds of relationships can you imagine... Read more
Is the fleeting fantasy of those who seek death."
-- Proverbs 21:6
What kinds of relationships can you imagine... Read more
Published on 6 April 2010 by Donald Mitchell
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