Marriages & Infidelities by Joyce Carol Oates

By Pamelascott

The complex relationship between love and betrayal is explored in these twenty-four short stories.

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Howard Dean reached the outskirts of Mouth-of-Lowmoor, West Virginia, at about four-thirty on a warm autumn afternoon, after having driven most of the day- THE SACRED MARRIAGE

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(Vanguard Press, 1 August 1972, hardback, 497 pages, bought from AmazonUK, #POPSUGARReadingChallenge, a book you bought second-hand, reread)

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I read this years ago and I am re-visiting it for this year's reading challenge. JCO is my favourite writer so it's always a pleasure to revisit her work. Her stories are as good as her novels; well-writing, powerful, dark at times, often puzzling and intense. I liked the fact the stories are all different, not just in theme / subject matter but style as well. No stories are alike. I especially enjoyed The Sacred Marriage. Extraordinary Popular Delusions, The Children, Normal Love, Did You Ever Slip On Red Blood? and The Turn Of The Screw.