This review of “Little Bird of Heaven” by Joyce Carol Oates refers to the 2009 Paperback Copyright version by HarperCollins Publishers.

This is the story of a young wife and mother, Zoe Kruller, who is found brutally murdered. The police target two suspects: Zoe's estranged husband – Delray and Zoe's long time lover, Eddy Diehl. It is a story of longing, attraction and revulsion between Krista (Diehl's daughter) and Aaron (Zoe's son.)

Both Aaron and Krista's fascination with each other begin early on in the novel. Aaron believes that Krista's father murdered his mother. Oates links sexual lust with violence in a dark, vivid, disturbing yet realistic way.

In one scene, Krista has nearly overdosed on illicit drugs when Aaron finds her. Krista believes that he saved her and that he loves her. He brings her to his aunt Viola's house. Krista -- in a very drugged state is trying to wash up in the bathroom. Aunt Viola berates Aaron for bringing “that Diehl girl” to their home. When Aaron is alone in the bathroom with Krista he begins to choke her and he is sexually aroused. He imagines all the sexual things he would do to her if Viola weren't downstairs. He grinds his erect penis against Krista's backside as she leans over the sink and he comes in his pants. Throughout the novel sexual desire is constantly linked with pain and violence.

At the end of the novel, when Aaron and Krista re-unite for one evening of drunken “love-making” Aaron is described as roughly shoving Krista against the side of the car. “Suddenly our hands fell on each other. I had hold of the man I'd been wanting to pummel just now, I was clutching and desperate... he'd taken hold of my head in both his hands and he kissed me open-mouthed. We were gnawing at each other's mouths, a sexual frenzy seemed to sweep over us.” (p. 432) Krista feels that the sex is very impersonal for Aaron. She concludes: “There can never be equality, in sexual love.”

Aside from sexual lust and pain Oates explores the enduring effects of murder on a family. Krista Diehl is certain her father did not murder Zoe. Her brother, Ben, is certain that he did and it tears at their relationship to the point where at the end of the novel they only see each other once a year.

Zoe's brutal murder nearly breaks her son, Aaron. He is the one who finds her dead – strangled in her bed.

This book is in part about lost innocence. The children are forced to deal with alcoholism, drug abuse and Zoe's murder. They are all forced to grow up quickly. Krista's innocence is quickly lost. She is just a child in the scene where she's holed up in a hotel room with her father. Krista sees her father's gun. Her internal thoughts are: “But daddy would not hurt me, Daddy loves me.” “Daddy would not hurt himself, if I am here.” (p.228)

Later on in the novel, as an adult Krista says: “Pain was a legacy I knew, and accepted.” She dreams of her dead father. This passage is typical Oates – lyrical, painful and poignant. “Often I dream of him – Edward Diehl. Maybe always every night. As you dream of something knotted and gnarled in the region of your heart. As you dream of a musical chord repeated to the point of madness. As you dream of the unknowable fact of your own death. As the city of Sparta had become, in my memory, a mute, physical sensation that made my heart contract with emotion. Back there.” (p. 395) The characters are haunted by the adults in the novel and by each other. Krista makes a choice not to let the pain swallow her whole. She moves to a city several hours away. The only one who remains behind in Sparta is Aaron.

Krista says: “In Sparta I learned as a girl: you play the cards you've been dealt. In this case, Krista Diehl is the cards I've been dealt, and the cards I will have to play” (p. 393)

Sparta itself is a sort of character in the novel. Oates brings to life “Sparta, New York, in that hilly region at the western edge of the Adirondacks.” Sparta is at once home but also the site of tragedy, mystery and pain. Sparta is described as the “doomed city on the Black River.” Sparta is referred to often. Krista cannot imagine “the remainder of [her] life, in Sparta on the Black River, Herkimer County, New York.”

When Aaron and Krista are briefly re-united at the end of the novel, in reference to Aaron she thinks, And it was an insult to him...I'd left Sparta and I'd left him... Drunk, Aaron says that he wants her to come back to Sparta to live with him. This thought is unfathomable to Krista. She can never go back. She fears Aaron would grow tired of her and she would end up just like her mother “waiting” for her father's headlights at night on the ceiling of the bedroom. She flees the hotel room she shared with Aaron while he is still asleep. She does not look back.

This is a novel that will linger in your memory long after you've read the last page. Whether you are an avid Oates reader or have never read any of her writing I recommend this book.