After having read a book by Joyce Carol Oates (which I reviewed here earlier this year) and enjoying it, the time had come to look for another book by her to read.
Unfortunately, the selection at my local library was not as plentiful as I had hoped for. As it turns out, I opted for a book in the Large Print section, because it looked enticing, and also seemed like a likely quick read, which it more or less was.
Once again, it was a book which I enjoyed reading. That means that Oates now is likely an author whom I will actively seek to read more stuff from. Possibly even begin to consider her one of my favorite authors, if I keep reading stuff from her which I enjoy.
So let's take a closer look at this particular book, "Pursuit."
Before I do, however, let me give the usual warnings to stop reading if you intend to read this book, because there will be spoilers ahead.
SPOILER ALERT
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Okay, so by now if you are still reading this, I have to imagine that you either are familiar with this story already, or perhaps you do not mind the spoilers. Please just don't say that you were not given advanced warning.
Let's get to the actual review, touching on each short story in particular. So let's get it started:
This book is about two different couples, going through drama at two different times. The first couple that we meet would be Abby and Willem. They are almost ridiculously innocent, almost to the point of being naive, in some ways. Both virgins, waiting for marriage for their first time having sex. They seem almost too innocent for this modern age.
However, we get a glimpse of Abby's troubled past. Just a few glimpses, which feel almost like still shots, more than clear narratives. Nevertheless, it is enough for us to understand that something is really haunting Abby. We find out that she constantly has a very eerie dream of walking on a field of skeletons, and feeling them crumbles under the weight of her as she walks upon them. When the day after she marries Willem, she steps in front of a bus and nearly gets herself killed, there are questions about whether or not this even really was an accident, or if it was perhaps a suicide attack.
Willem shows admirable loyalty and sincere love, staying at his new, young wife's side throughout her hospital stay and her initial steps to recovery. Recover she does, moving away from critical condition, when her life seemed legitimately in danger, to the road to recovery. It seems that the young married couple will indeed have a second chance.
The next couple we meet lives about twenty years before the first couple. This would be Nicola and Lew. They are also married, and have a little girl. However, that is where the similarities end, because this marriage does not resemble the first at all. In fact, it is between a woman trying to be the best mother possible, and a man whom is haunted by his experiences in Iraq during a war. He is having difficulty adjusting to society after the war. There has been a split, but he wants both his daughter and his wife back, seemingly viewing them as his property.
Lew makes mistakes. He tries to force his way into his old house - he still views it as his house, since he is very territorial - and gets into legal trouble. Realizing that he has not been too smart, he decides to disappear for a little while. Before long, he sends his ex-wife a postcard which amounts to a suicide note. It seems tragic, but in time, life goes on.
Except that Lew has not actually killed himself. It was all a ploy. He returns back home having completely changed his appearance. He shaved his head and altered other aspects of his appearance, and then kidnaps his wife, Nicola. In fact, he hopes that he can win her back, but realizes - perhaps too late - that this is ludicrous. He will never get her back. So he turns to his final solution between them. For all intents and purposes, he handcuffs himself to her and kills himself in the middle of the woods, where nobody will ever hear her.
As you may have guessed (or perhaps read), these two are the mother and father of Abby, who was then named Gabriella. But she has tried to put some distance between herself and her haunted past, so she has reinvented herself. Also, renamed herself.
Still, that past catches up with her. Except that now, she has an ally in Willem, who is willing - even eager - to help her get her to understand and put her past behind her. While she is still recovering physically, they drive out to the rural farm where this crime has occurred. Willem seems in good spirits, probably not believing that this can be real. When he returns, however, he seems shell-shocked, like he has seen something that has permanently altered him.
A very good book, an enjoyable read. Indeed, Joyce Carol Oates has become another of my favorite writers.
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