Carthage by Joyce Carol Oates

Carthage by Joyce Carol Oates

Carthage is the name of the town  in New York where this book takes place. It tells the story of a  well respected, loving couple and their two daughters Juliet ( the pretty one) and Cressida ( the odd and unusual one). It is a loving family but within the family are misunderstanding between the sisters and sibling rivalry. Into the family comes a young man Brett, who falls in love with Juliet , becomes engaged to her and then become a soldier who goes off to fight in the Iraq war. He comes back as a very disturbed and disabled man.The wedding is called off.

Soon after , the younger now 19. rather  odd daughter Cressida  goes missing and Brett is   thought to have had something to do with this . He is suspected of  murdering her. Under pressure he confesses. But why would he do this?

This could have been the end of the story but it is really just the start and continues with the telling of an intriguing story  with great writing and character description. By the end of the book you feel that you know this family.and  the justice and jail system . You can also understand a great deal about how a bad incident can change family dynamics and lead to many conclusions.Some wrong.

A very detailed book with good emotional understanding of people and their actions.