'Every single Oates novel I've read has added to my conviction that she is a genius.' Julie Myerson, Independent on Sunday 'One of the female frontrunners for the title of Great American Novelist.' Maggie Gee, Sunday Times 'A writer of extraordinary strengths ! she has dealt consistently with what is probably the great American theme -- the quest for the creation of self ! Her great subject, naturally, is love.' Ian Sansom, Guardian 'Unlike anything else she has ever written ! A very strong and readable novel; the rivalry between the two sisters is especially well observed' Edmund White, Books of the Year, Times Literary Supplement 'Her prose is peerless and her ability to make you think as she re-invents genres is unique. Few writers move so effortlessly from the gothic tale to the psychological thriller to the epic family saga to the lyrical novella. Even fewer authors can so compellingly and entertainingly tell a story.' Jackie McGlone, Scotland on Sunday 'Novelists such as John Updike, Philip Roth, Tom Wolfe and Norman Mailer slug it out for the title of the Great American Novelist. But maybe they're wrong. Maybe, just maybe, the Great American Novelist is a woman.' The Herald

Joyce Carol Oates is a recipient of the National Book Award and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction. She has written some of the most enduring fiction of our time, including 'We Were the Mulvaneys', which was an Oprah Book Club Choice, and 'Blonde', which was nominated for the National Book Award. She is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Princeton University.