Pursuit

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Description

From Joyce Carol Oates, literary icon and author of Blonde, now a major motion picture, an eerie, psychologically complex thriller about a woman haunted by her traumatic past. As a child, Abby had the same nightmare night after night, in which she wandered through a field ridden with human bones. Now an adult, Abby thinks she's outgrown her demons, until, the evening before her wedding, the terrible dream returns and forces her to confront the dark secrets she is keeping from her new husband, Willem. The following day, less than 24 hours after exchanging vows, Abby steps out into traffic. As his wife lies in her hospital bed, Willem tries to determine whether this was an absentminded accident or a premeditated plunge. Slowly, Abby begins to open up to her husband, revealing to him what she has never shared with anyone before: the story of a terrified mother; a jealous, drug addled father; and a daughter's terrifying captivity. With a suspenseful, alternating narrative that travels between the present and Abby's tortured childhood, Pursuit is a meticulously crafted, deeply disquieting tale that showcases Oates's masterful storytelling. Reviews for Joyce Carol Oates: 'A writer of extraordinary strengths.' Guardian 'Oates chillingly depicts the darkness lurking within the everyday.' Sunday Express 'Both haunting and sublime.' Literary Review 'Splendidly chilling.' Financial Times 'Visceral, psychologically involving, and socially astute.' Booklist

Reviews

Pursuit is on the side of the angels. Well, "angels" might not be the right word for this terrifying short tale of the demons we all carry with us... As the dread swells, Oates deftly unspools the answers' * Metro *
This wonderful author is incapable of writing a less than perfect sentence... Oates manages the tension and the profoundly eerie atmosphere with precision and economy. But it is the prose that lifts the spirit with its poetry' * Daily Mail *
Toxic masculinity is pitted against a fragile female protagonist in this gruesome novel * Cornish Times *
Gripping and gruesome... It's packed with unrelenting, won't-let-go intensity that characterises all Oates' work' * East Anglian Daily Times *

Author Bio

Joyce Carol Oates, literary icon, is the author of more than 70 books, including the bestselling novels We Were the Mulvaneys and Blonde. Among her many honours are the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction and the National Book Award. Oates is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University, and has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978. Follow Joyce on @JoyceCarolOates