{"product_id":"rape-a-love-story-9780786714827","title":"Rape a Love Story","description":"\u003ch2\u003eRape a Love Story by Joyce Carol Oates\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\nNational Book Award-winner Joyce Carol Oates delivers a powerful crime novella that explores justice, survival, and the aftermath of violence. This gripping psychological thriller follows Teena Maguire and her twelve-year-old daughter Bethie through a harrowing journey that tests the limits of human resilience.\n\n\u003ch2\u003ePlot Overview\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\nTeena Maguire's decision to shortcut through Rocky Point Park after midnight on the Fourth of July changes everything. A victim of gang rape and left for dead in the park boathouse, the once vital woman now struggles with survival itself. Her daughter Bethie, barely twelve years old, must navigate a childhood now defined by fear rather than innocence.\n\nThe perpetrators—the Pick brothers, Jimmy DeLucca, and Fritz Haaber—remain close by in their Niagara Falls neighborhood. The terror doesn't end with the attack; it permeates their daily lives through intimidation and violence, including the killing of Bethie's grandmother's cat. Yet within this darkness emerges an unexpected champion who understands the true meaning of justice.\n\n\u003ch2\u003eAuthor Background\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\nJoyce Carol Oates stands as one of America's most honored authors, with an impressive literary career spanning decades. She won the National Book Award for \u003ci\u003eThem\u003c\/i\u003e, received the PEN\/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her critically praised novels include \u003ci\u003eWe Were the Mulvaneys\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBlonde\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eBlack Water\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as the acclaimed novella \u003ci\u003eBeasts\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Barrens\u003c\/i\u003e. Based in Princeton, New Jersey, Oates continues to craft stories that challenge and captivate readers.\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWriting Style and Pace\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\nOates unfolds this narrative at a relentless, compelling pace punctuated by lonely cries in the night and whispers of terror in the afternoon. Her prose captures the psychological weight of trauma while maintaining the tension of a crime thriller. The story examines not just the act of violence itself, but its rippling consequences through a community and the lives it touches.\n\n\u003ch2\u003eBook Details\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\nThis paperback edition from Otto Penzler Books and Da Capo Press offers readers a concentrated dose of Oates' masterful storytelling in novella form. The book addresses difficult social issues through the lens of literary fiction, making it suitable for book clubs seeking substantial discussion material and readers who appreciate dark, psychologically complex narratives.\n\n\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJOYCE CAROL OATES, one of America's most honored authors, has written such critically praised and popular novels as We Were the Mulvaneys, Blonde, and Black Water, as well as the acclaimed novella Beasts and The Barrens. She won the National Book Award for Them, received the PEN\/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey.","brand":"Da Capo Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50680746901778,"sku":"9780786714827","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_9e32d15b-4b91-482f-b91e-729bfc7e65fe.jpg?v=1734924753","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/rape-a-love-story-9780786714827","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}