Set in the mythical city of Sparta, New York, this vividly rendered exploration of the mysterious conjunction of erotic romance & tragic violence in late 20th-century America returns to the emotional & geographical terrain of Joyce Carol Oates's previous bestsellers 'We Were the Mulvaneys' and 'The Gravedigger's Daughter'.
Krimi. A political noir tale set during the summer of 1968 in which the lives of three men collide in the pursuit of the leftist shadow figure known as the Red Goddess Joan
Translation of: The winter of Frankie Machine.
In this compelling narrative, a writer embarks on a quest to uncover the truth behind his family's tragic past during World War II, blending memoir, reportage, mystery, and scholarly investigation. The journey begins with the haunting memory of six relatives who vanished during the Holocaust, a topic that captivated him since childhood. Years later, the discovery of desperate letters from 1939 written by his grandfather prompts him to seek out the remaining witnesses to his family's fate. This search spans a dozen countries across four continents, revealing the painful discrepancies between lived histories and the stories we tell. Ultimately, it leads him back to the small Ukrainian town where his family's saga began, where answers to a long-standing mystery await. By weaving together past and present, childhood memories of a lost generation of immigrant Jews, and reflections on biblical texts and Jewish history, the narrative transforms a personal family story into a profound meditation on memory and the passage of time. Deeply personal and suspenseful, this literary work illuminates what is lost and found in our attempts to grasp the past. The author’s exploration is described as a powerful and moving investigation, reminiscent of Proust and Sebald, and is praised for its human depth, where every witness has a face and a story.