A Widow's Story : A Memoir by Joyce Carol Oates

[Jane R]

Joyce Carol Oates, the great American novelist, author of over 100 books, has written an unflinching memoir of widowhood.  When she lost her husband of 47 years, she could not bear to talk about it, instead she wrote a compelling and very readable account of the wasteland she found herself in.

The book is full of detail of everyday life.  In some parts it is like a scrapbook, with snippets of emails, letters of condolence, obituaries. Contrary to what you might think, the book is quite gripping and certainly as engaging as any novel.  Although 600 pages in length, it is testimony to her talent as a writer, that the book is a story you want to read (even though I knew very little of the author and her work before reading this memoir).