The Sacrifice

The Sacrifice
Joyce Carol Oates

‘Simply the most consistently inventive, brilliant, curious and creative writer going’ Gillian FlynnBest-selling author Joyce Carol Oates blends sexual violence, racism, brutality, and power in her latest incendiary novel.Best-selling author Joyce Carol Oates returns with an incendiary novel that illuminates the tragic impact of sexual violence, racism, brutality, and power on innocent lives and probes the persistence of stereotypes, the nature of revenge, the complexities of truth, and our insatiable hunger for sensationalism.When a fourteen-year-old girl is the alleged victim of a terrible act of racial violence, the incident shocks and galvanises her community, exacerbating the racial tension that has been simmering in this New Jersey town for decades. In this magisterial work of fiction, Joyce Carol Oates explores the uneasy fault lines in a racially troubled society. In such a tense, charged atmosphere, Oates reveals that there must always be a sacrifice – of innocence, truth, trust, and, ultimately, of lives. Unfolding in a succession of multiracial voices, in a community transfixed by this alleged crime and the spectacle unfolding around it, this profound novel exposes what – and who – the “sacrifice” actually is, and what consequences these kind of events hold for us all.Working at the height of her powers, Oates offers a sympathetic portrait of the young girl and her mother, and challenges our expectations and beliefs about our society, our biases, and ourselves. As the chorus of its voices – from the police to the media to the victim and her family – reaches a crescendo, “The Sacrifice” offers a shocking new understanding of power and oppression, innocence and guilt, truth and sensationalism, justice and retribution.A chilling exploration of complex social, political, and moral themes – the enduring trauma of the past, modern racial and class tensions, the power of secrets, and the primal decisions we all make to protect those we love – “The Sacrifice” is a major work of fiction from one of our most revered literary masters.

Copyright (#ulink_5057c24a-559d-506a-8011-18708bf0a1cd)

Fourth Estate

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First published in Great Britain by Fourth Estate in 2015

First published in the United States by Ecco in 2015

Copyright © The Ontario Review 2015

Joyce Carol Oates asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

Cover photograph © Nagib El Desouky / Arcangel Images.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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Source ISBN: 9780008114862

Ebook Edition © January 2015 ISBN: 9780008114879

Version: 2015-10-13

Dedication (#ulink_17bb8516-6e0e-5f4e-9a5f-f2618f0ddef6)

for Richard Levao

and for Charlie Gross

Contents

Cover (#u34761eb3-266d-508c-827b-67ac0f202d5b)

Title Page (#uca45bb0c-148c-55d2-92ab-aa6ba68f4b82)

Copyright (#u3e0bbf4e-7c99-504d-aaaa-3cb79809047e)

Dedication (#udb78d89e-8915-5f60-bbbc-c33251439254)

The Mother (#u78693cce-9f90-5d37-8719-04e99797a84f)

The Discovery (#ue5cfadff-6e40-520f-8164-77cb303d0fae)

“White Cop” (#ubc93ea67-fc54-5832-bf35-3173131531ac)

St. Anne’s Emergency (#u66a2ff0d-86e6-5bde-a60e-3f7f13cea4fd)

The Interview (#ueab3be8b-1368-5ad8-b3ac-569b7f230ed3)

Red Rock (#ud4e2661f-1235-5e2a-b283-345a04d0b48c)

“S’quest’d” (#u01ed6856-ee44-51cc-9fc5-29e228bc66d0)

Girl-Cousins (#u59ec89b6-0a0a-52a8-aedf-7bd715f6941f)

The Investigator (#litres_trial_promo)

Angel of Wrath (#litres_trial_promo)

The Good Neighbor (#litres_trial_promo)

The Lucky Man (#litres_trial_promo)

The Stepdaughter (#litres_trial_promo)

The Mission (#litres_trial_promo)

The Temptation (#litres_trial_promo)

The Seduction (#litres_trial_promo)

The Crusade (#litres_trial_promo)

“Nazi-Racist Swine” (#litres_trial_promo)

“Reassigned” (#litres_trial_promo)

The Good Son (#litres_trial_promo)

The Twins (#litres_trial_promo)

Safe House (#litres_trial_promo)