'Oates is digging her pen into the sensitive heart of the race question, with all the intelligence and humanity we have come to expect from this brilliant and bafflingly prolific writer.' The Times 'The prolific Oates is bang on form with this one, a cunningly loaded mix of post-Nixon paranoia, public racism and private madness.' Metro 'Failures of communication seem both tragic and inevitable in a novel that reveals its author's awareness of the complexities involved in personal and political relationships too often portrayed as stereotypes.' Sunday Times 'Where the novel truly stands out is in its depiction of its two protagonists. Genna is a fine portrait on the coruscating effects of guilt on a young soul. Her halting, self-lacerating voice is painfully acute, such as when she ponders whether the persecution of her roommate is just a malicious dormitory prank or much worse.' Guardian 'The prolific Oates is bang on form with this on, a cunningly loaded mix of post-Nixon paranoia, public racism and private madness.' Metro 'Oates is digging her pen into the sensitive heart of the race question, with all the intelligence and humanity we have come to expect from this brilliant and bafflingly prolific writer.' The Times 'Failures of communication seem both tragic and inevitable in a novel that reveals it's author's awareness of the complexities involved in personal and political relationships too often portrayed as stereotypes.' Sunday Times 'Where the novel truly stands out is in its depiction of its two protagonists. Genna is a fine portrait on the coruscating effects of guilt on a young soul. Her halting, self-lacerating voice is painfully acute, such as when she ponders whether the persecution of her roommate is just a malicious dormitory prank or much worse.' The Guardian
