Them

Joyce Carol Oates is an American author born in 1938. Her novel, Them, was chosen as a National Book Award winner in 1970. The story is set in the turbulent ‘60’s and is Maureen Wendall’s struggle to survive and rise above the poverty and social straits into which she is born. She has been traumatized by her alcoholic father and also by her murderous younger brother. The reality of the families’ situation creeps up on them slowly and without realizing it, they find that a younger generation is exhibiting the same tendencies as the previous. A passionate storyteller, Oates depicts a family in peril and with fabulous perception, captivates the reader.