The Sacrifice : A Novel
Author(s): Joyce Carol Oates
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.
Review(s):
Joyce Carol Oates […] is simply the most consistently inventive, brilliant, curious and creative writer going, as far as I’m concerned.
“Oates fully intends to make readers squirm. But for all its headline brashness, visceral magnification, and societal melodrama, The Sacrifice is laced with striking psychological subtleties, painful ironies, and flashes of tenderness and wit. A sure-fire catalyst for meaningful discussion.
“A fictional account of the infamous Tawana Brawley case… [Oates] uses fiction as an opportunity to interrogate the circumstances that made Brawley’s story a sensation and gave it meaning.”
“[A] tale of race, community, and pride… complex and multifaceted.”
“In this provocative novel, Oates barges her way into territory where not many white writers have dared to tread - and produced a raw and earnest mix of fiery drama and the bone-cold truths of race as we live it today.”
“If you enjoy historical fiction, there’s a wide range of it coming up. In January, the tireless Joyce Carol Oates publishes The Sacrifice, a tense novel based on the notorious Tawana Brawley rape case in 1987.”
“Prize-winning author Joyce Carol Oates recreates the notorious Tawana Brawley case - with an Al Sharpton-like character fanning the flames of fraud - in her explosive new novel The Sacrifice.”
“The tireless Joyce Carol Oates publishes The Sacrifice, a tense novel based on the notorious Tawana Brawley rape case in 1987.”
“Based largely on the infamous Tawana Brawley hoax of the late-1980s, Joyce Carol Oates’ latest novel, The Sacrifice is a savage satire on race relations and the culture of sensationalism...The Sacrifice ranks among Joyce Carol Oates’s best novels.”
“Without a doubt this book is timely...If there was ever a moment that called for insight into the scourge of racist policing, this is it....Oates has a sophisticated grasp of racial complexities…”
ISBN: 9780062332974