For some reason, I have never even considered reading something my J.C.Oates. I have no idea why; she is such a substantial and natural part of any bookstore - maybe for that reason. Anyway, I'm glad my reading group made me read this.

The story - which I won't repeat here, since you can read that in any online bookstore - is most certainly not an uplifting one. So saying I enjoyed reading it is a bit misleading, because the story is nothing to enjoy; it's sad, heartbreaking, and leaves me angry and upset.

But - and that's the point - I'm angry and upset because of what happens to the narrator. Not at the writer or the writing. Which just shows how good the writing is, because things feel real.

The ending was just a tad of "genie-in-a-box"-like, but it doesn't really matter. This is an excellent book, full of insights, warmth, compassion, and it is a touching, actually a moving, novel.