Book description
'A writer of extraordinary strengths' Guardian
Set in the mythical small city of Sparta, New York, this searing,
vividly rendered exploration of the mysterious conjunction of erotic
romance and tragic violence in late 20th-century America.
When a young wife and mother named Zoe Kruller is found brutally
murdered, the Sparta police target two primary suspects: her estranged
husband Delray and her longtime lover Eddy Diehl. In turn, the
Krullers's son Aaron and Eddy's daughter Krista become obsessed with one
another, each believing the other's father is guilty.
Told in halves in the very different voices of Krista and Aaron, Little
Bird of Heaven is classic Joyce Carol Oates, in which the lyricism of
intense sexual love is intertwined with the anguish of loss, and
tenderness is barely distinguishable from cruelty. By the novel's end,
the fated lovers, meeting again as adults, are at last ready to exorcise
the ghosts of the past and come to terms with their legacy of guilt,
misplaced love and redemptive yearning.
With Little Bird of Heaven, Joyce Carol Oates once again confirms her
place as one of the most outstanding writers at work today. Joyce
Carol Oates is a recipient of the National Book Award and the
PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction. She has written some
of the most enduring fiction of our time, including 'We Were the
Mulvaneys', which was an Oprah Book Club Choice, and 'Blonde', which was
nominated for the National Book Award. She is the Roger S. Berlind
Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Princeton University.
