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The Gravedigger's Daughter

By Joyce Carol Oates

(16)

| Paperback | 9780007258468

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Book Description

From the author of 'Blonde', 'The Falls' and 'We Were the Mulvaneys', this new novel takes in the themes of race, immigration, family and social mobility, and is Joyce Carol Oates at her storytelling best. 'The Gravedigger's Daughter' tells the tale of Rebecca Schwart, born in the late 1930s to an iContinue

Critics

Bookreporter.com - THE GRAVEDIGGER'S DAUGHTER by Joyce Carol Oates

• Read an Excerpt If Joyce Carol Oates wrote a different kind of fiction, her legendary prolificacy would hardly be worth remarking. If she wrote romances or murder mysteries, for example, "churning out" a book a year would be par for the course. Oat ... (read full critics)

bookreporter published on Sun, 29 Aug 2010

1 Review

Trying to be the Great American Novel?

An interesting, if overlong text (at 582 pages) with some potent writing, and with Oates' trademark density (in a good way) and depth. I enjoyed the book, and there are some powerful and shocking episodes, covering the life of the protagonist (from the title) through childhood and into late middle a ... (continue)

An interesting, if overlong text (at 582 pages) with some potent writing, and with Oates' trademark density (in a good way) and depth. I enjoyed the book, and there are some powerful and shocking episodes, covering the life of the protagonist (from the title) through childhood and into late middle age, running from her demons (including echoes of Nazi Germany), reinventing herself along the way, with some success.
Characters are recognisable, though I found myself a little irritated with Rebecca/Hazel. I couldn't work out if her spurious decisions were from poor writing, or an accurate portrayal of human complexity and a tendency toward inconsistency (I suspect the latter).
Oates is currently one of the foremost US novelists, and her recent article in the New Yorker describing her husband's death is one of the best I've read on this topic. Her writing is straightforward and uncomplicated (no long words here - Will Self take note), precise and (usually) concise.
I'd recommend this novel - its large, elliptic arc has shades of Updike and Roth. though you may find yourself skipping some passages, searching for outcomes of the more dramatic events :)

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