DIS MEM BER AND OTHER STORIES OF MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE

'Seven gothic tales that plumb the depths of women who, whatever their age, always seem to stand on the threshold of the heart-breaking tides of adolescence...' - Kirkus Reviews. The latest collection from exquisite prose stylist Joyce Carol Oates focusses on the inner lives of vulnerable girls and women, some victimised, others provoked by deep emotional unrest, to commit violence against others. In the title story, a precocious 11-year-old named Jill is in thrall to an older male relative, the mysterious, attractive black sheep of the family. Without telling her parents she climbs into his sky blue Chevy to be driven to an uncertain, and unforgettable, fate. In 'The Crawl Space', a widow obsessively returns to the house she once shared with her husband, until an invitation from the new owners to come inside takes a turn for the menacing. In 'The Drowned Girl', a university transfer student becomes increasingly obsessed with the drowning/murder of another female student as her own sense of self begins to deteriorate. In the final story 'Welcome to Friendly Skies!' a trusting group of bird-watchers is borne to a remote part of the globe and to a harrowing fate. 237pp.