Joyce Carol Oates - A Fair Maiden

The Telegraph“Misleadingly billed as “a novel of dark suspense”...” With its depiction of the relationship between the elderly artist and the young muse who becomes his angel of death, it might well stand as a heterosexual counterpart to Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice...

The Times“Oates is brilliant on class, vulnerability and illusions...” The brilliance of this book (and its suspense) lies in a skilful manipulation of categories. If it is a modern novel, it is impossible for it to end well; if it is a fairy tale, almost anything could happen...

The Independent“An old man's creepy approach to a 16-year-old girl...” The joining of the realistic story of class, sex and callow youth to a luminous tale of transformation does not quite work; perhaps because it seems formulaic.

Guardian“Much of the writing is wilfully slow and ponderous...” Katya Spivak is fatally constrained by the unnecessary central conceit. Instead of trying to make her a 21st-century Lolita, Oates should have allowed her to become her own woman...

Publishers Weekly“Derivative and unpolished... ” The revelation isn’t worth the buildup. This is certainly one of Oates’s lesser works...

Economist“Not yet reviewed”

The Scotsman“Not yet reviewed”

Financial Times“Not yet reviewed”

The New York Times“Not yet reviewed”

The New Yorker“Not yet reviewed”