The Gravedigger's Daughter: A Novel (P.S.)
by Joyce Carol Oates
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Book Summary Information
Author: Joyce Carol OatesEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-04-01
ISBN: 0061236837
Number of pages: 624
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Book Reviews of The Gravedigger's Daughter: A Novel (P.S.)
Book Review: A Gripping, Emotionally Wrenching Look at How Women Accommodate Men to Survive
Summary: 5 Stars
The Gravedigger's Daughter is the most compelling novel I've read in decades. My emotions were so wrapped up in this book that I could hear the sounds in the story's background, smell the surroundings, feel the clothing, and taste the food and drinks. I doubt if I'll ever read fiction that will move me as much as this book did.
The Gravedigger's Daughter is the story of Rebecca Schwart's life described in terms of how she accommodated men to gain physical security: her father, her employers, men who made passes, her first lover, her son, her future father-in-law, and her eventual husband. Without accommodating those men, she would not have survived. As it was, survival was not always easy. Ultimately, there was an enormous price to pay: She left little room in her day to be herself. Instead, life unfolded as a continual drama in which she had to play set roles or be treated in horrible ways. Worse still, the men wanted to convince her that their way of thinking was the only way . . . and some of their mantras stuck.
At another level, the book explores the question of whether humans are spiritual creatures or simply predators that feed off one another at their convenience. The book suggests that the spiritual realm has a limited reach, if it does exist.
Another dimension of The Gravedigger's Daughter is a consideration of how genes and environment play a role in shaping our choices and our preferences. This aspect of the book is best portrayed through considering how the lives of three generations played out.
Finally, the book has a profoundly dark look at the lasting damage that evil actions create. Throughout this book, Nazi racism continues to create harm.
Beyond those themes, Joyce Carol Oates has a positive view -- life is precious and worthy of nurturing.
The book's epilogue is a masterpiece. Long-separated cousins grope slowly toward one another in a series of letters that you won't soon forget. It's a marvelous expression of the alienation that separates us from each other.
Let me briefly describe the story. As I do, let me caution you against reading reviews that go into very many details. It would be very easy to spoil this story for you.
The book begins with a prologue in which Rebecca Schwart addresses her feelings about her father ten years after his death. Chapter 1 of Chautauqua Falls, New York switches to 1959 with Rebecca walking home from her factory job while being trailed by a man in a panama hat who makes her feel uneasy. In Chapter 2, you meet Rebecca's son, Niles Jr. (Niley). In Chapter 3, there's a telephone call from Niles Tignor, Niley's father. Niles is away a lot and Rebecca is most anxious for him to return.
From there, the book retreats in time to 1936 in Milburn, New York, just after Rebecca was born. Her parents and two brothers had just escaped from Nazi Germany, and her father had taken on the job of caretaker for the township's cemetery, work that includes digging graves. This is quite a change for a man who was once a teacher. His weak English skills limit his choices along with the Depression economy. This is no land of milk and honey for the Schwart family. The job includes free housing, in a hovel that's served by a graveyard-contaminated well. But hope rises when part of her mother's family later attempts to escape from Germany as well.
The story takes you through all of Rebecca's life, with a special emphasis on her early family life, her work, her first lover, her son, and her eventual husband.
Bravo, Ms. Oates!
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