When a fourteen-year-old girl is the alleged victim of a terrible act of racial violence, the incident shocks and galvanizes her community, exacerbating the racial tension that has been simmering in this New Jersey town for decades. In this magisterial work of fiction, Joyce Carol Oates explores the uneasy fault lines in a racially troubled society. In such a tense, charged atmosphere, Oates reveals that there must always be a sacrifice? Of innocence, truth, trust, and, ultimately, of lives. Unfolding in a succession of multiracial voices, in a community transfixed by this alleged crime and the spectacle unfolding around it, these profound novel exposes what-and who-the "sacrifice" actually is, and what consequences these kinds of events hold for us all.
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[Seen my girl? My baby?]***
(Ecco Press, 27 January 2015, bought from Amazon)
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I thought The Sacrifice was heart-breaking at times. The novel reminded me a lot of her novel them set during the racial riots in Detroit. It explores similar themes, anyway.
JCO taps into the fear, prejudice and racial tension of the period the novel is set, perfectly capturing the ramifications of Sybilla's assault. It's doubtful her assault would have affected the community so much if she'd been white or lived in a different neighbourhood.
One of JCO's strengths as a writer is her ability to tackle difficult, controversial issues head on with grace, respect and dignity. This is apparent in spades in The Sacrifice.
I found the book difficult to read at times. My heart went out for Sybilla. What happened to her was bad enough without everyone else trying to turn it into their story and do her thinking and speaking for her.
The Sacrifice is a masterpiece.
