In her inimitable style, Oates takes the reader on journeys through small American towns and the biggest urban sprawls. Tales of loss, grief, and violent ends; murder or the slow decay of time; failed relationships between children and parents, lovers or spouses. Characters face dark secrets or their own consciences; Oates takes the reader between the courtroom, the hospital, and the wilderness of upstate New York with deft skill as she presents this tantalising collection of the macabre and mysterious, the suspenseful and the sublime.
