Sexual Abuse | Book Chatter

Fox
By Joyce Carol Oates
Hogarth, June 2025, 672pp.

The Short of It:

An exploration of temptation and the need for love.

The Rest of It:

*No Spoilers*

Mr. Fox is quite popular, with a certain group of girls.

Francis Fox, an English teacher at the prestigious Langhorne Academy possesses charm and wit and knows just what to say to a select few. Many of his students hang on his every word and seek his approval whenever they can, often leading to days of misery when not in the radius of his attention.

But when Fox’s car is found submerged in a local nature reserve’s pond, and the unidentified body is strewn about, while Fox is nowhere to be found, detectives begin to ask the tough questions.

Who is Fox? What’s his story? How did he arrive at this sleepy little town? As Detective Horace Zwender and his partner begin questioning school administrators and really anyone who Fox came in contact with, they slowly discover another side to him that begs to be further explored.

I found myself completely enthralled with this book. It speaks to forbidden wants and desires and how they play out between people when the conditions are just right. The tension! Fox’s private life is not so private as each page is turned. Oates creates flawed vulnerable characters that pull you in, even when the subject matter is difficult to digest.

The nuanced writing takes center stage. The tone is subtle while creating tension that will have you reading each word, slowly. It’s mesmerizing and satisfying.

It checked all my boxes:

Imperfect characters
Surprising twists
Highbrow academia setting
Intellectually thoughtful, reflective
Delicate handling of a tough topic

At nearly 700pp, I did not feel its length whatsoever. I flipped those pages in awe because Oates takes you gently by the hand and then as you get further in, you end up running full speed to those final pages.

I didn’t want it to end. My mind got such a workout while spending time with Fox. I guess you could say he charmed me as well.

Highly recommend. Not sure how I missed this book when it was first released.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

Oryx and Crake
By Margaret Atwood
Vintage, 2004, 400pp.

The Short of It:

You know when they say that books should make you feel things? Yeah. Oryx and Crake will definitely leave you feeling things.

The Rest of It:

*No Spoilers*

I purchased this book at least a decade ago. I started it a few times and couldn’t get into it, but then a group of us online picked it as a book club pick, and so I looked for my copy, found it (amazing given the pile of books I have) and dove in.

I’ll be careful not to give much away because most of what you feel while reading it, is shock and dismay that such things can exist, and actually do today.

Atwood describes a bleak world. There is the before, and then there is the after. As a reader, you get a glimpse of how we got here but there is much left to the imagination as to what prompted it all. Dystopian worlds are bleak and lifeless but with Oryx and Crake, the story is teeming with life but in the most disturbing way.

Animals are hybrids. For example, Raccoons and Skunks become their own breed. Pigs? Something else entirely. People, aka humanoids, run around without clothing as there is no need for it. Food is scarce. But just like now, there are the HAVES and the HAVE NOTS. The Haves are pulling the strings and everything in this story is Biblical in nature.

Think Adam and Eve and the serpent.

Oryx and Crake is part of a trilogy which includes The Year of the Flood and MaddAddam. This book was a tough read. It was hard on my soul. Not just because of the times we are living in, but because the subject matter is delicate and that is why I will include a trigger warning here for sexual content because Atwood does not handle it in a delicate way. It’s front and center, in your face. I had to put the book down a few times but since it was a group read, I kept going.

Atwood called this story a “romance” and that just blows my mind.

Will I read the others in the trilogy? Probably, yes. Because as numb as we can all be to the nonsense of this world, you have to feel things now and then to know that you are still here.

Source: Purchased
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

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