Ray Campbell is a risk assessment manager when A Dancer in the Dust begins but it is his time as an aid worker in Africa decades ago that forms the foundation of the novel. As a young man assigned to the newly independent country of Lubanda he is filled with idealism and a desire to help the people of this arid, under-developed country. When he meets Martine, a white woman ... Read More...
Sandrine’s Case
In the early morning hours of November 15th a police officer is called to investigate a suicide in the small town of Coburn, Georgia. Sandrine Madison lies dead in her bed of an apparent drug overdose. There is no other trauma or indication of foul play but the officer gets a ‘feeling’ from the husband and that is how Samuel Madison comes to stand trial for the murder of his ... Read More...
Darkest: Daddy Love
Joyce Carol Oates is a seductress who leads you into whatever world she is exploring. This can be poignant, uplifting, or deeply disturbing. In the case of Daddy Love it’s the latter. The first four chapters recount the same time span in a mother’s life—the moment when her child is taken from her. Yet she was conscious of the terrible loss. The child’s hand had ... Read More...
