The Sacrifice The Sacrifice

The Sacrifice

A Novel

    • 3.9 • 12 Ratings
    • $7.99

Publisher Description

New York Times bestselling author Joyce Carol Oates returns with an incendiary novel that illuminates the tragic impact of sexual violence, racism, brutality, and power on innocent lives and probes the persistence of stereotypes, the nature of revenge, the complexities of truth, and our insatiable hunger for sensationalism.

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, this profound novel exposes what—and who—the “sacrifice” actually is, and what consequences these kind of events hold for us all.

Working at the height of her powers, Oates offers a sympathetic portrait of the young girl and her mother, and challenges our expectations and beliefs about our society, our biases, and ourselves. As the chorus of its voices—from the police to the media to the victim and her family—reaches a crescendo, The Sacrifice offers a shocking new understanding of power and oppression, innocence and guilt, truth and sensationalism, justice and retribution.

A chilling exploration of complex social, political, and moral themes—the enduring trauma of the past, modern racial and class tensions, the power of secrets, and the primal decisions we all make to protect those we love—The Sacrifice is a major work of fiction from one of our most revered literary masters.

GENRE
Fiction & Literature
RELEASED
2015
January 27
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
320
Pages
PUBLISHER
Ecco
SELLER
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS
SIZE
1.1
MB

Customer Reviews

1DalMom ,

The Sacrifice

This book has great potential. Many components raising questions about racial justice and injustice, truth and lies, honor and dishonor.As I read, I kept thinking, "Wow! How is Carol Oates, going to resolve this plot?" That is what kept me reading.
Then, there I was on the last page, and guess what. There is no resolution. There were so many loose ends it was as if the author just got tired of writing and said, "Alrighty then. I'm done."
And her editor didn't bother to read it because "Carol is a well respected author. People will buy this book when they see that she wrote it."
And sure enough, at least one gullible reader ,me, did exactly that. For that experience I give The Sacrifice, one star.
(You will notice that this review has a beginning, a middle, and an end. What a concept!)

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