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A Fair Maiden cover art

A Fair Maiden

Written by: Joyce Carol Oates
Narrated by: Angela Goethals
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Publisher's Summary

Sixteen year-old Katya Spivak is out for a walk on the gracious streets of Bayhead Harbor with her two summer babysitting charges when she's approached by silver-haired, elegant Marcus Kidder. At first, his interest in her seems harmless, even pleasant, like his name - a sort of gentle joke. His beautiful home, the children's books that he's written, his classical music, the marvelous art in his study, his lavish presents to her: Mr. Kidder's life couldn't be more different from Katya's drab working-class existence back home in South Jersey, or more enticing.

But by degrees, almost imperceptibly, something changes, and posing for Mr. Kidder's new painting isn't the light-hearted endeavor it once was. What does he really want from her? And how far will he go to get it?

©2009 The Ontario Review, Inc. All rights reserved (P)2009 BBC Audiobooks America

What the critics say

"Fans of Oates' gothic stylings will not be disappointed...and Katya's belligerent exuberance ("He wants me! Me, me!") gives the prose plenty of punch." (Booklist)

What listeners say about A Fair Maiden

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Great novel.

I was disappointed by the reader. I found her very good when speaking dialogue of the various characters, but found her reading of non dialogue to be robotic. Had I not been listening to the book while on a long distance drive , I would have stopped listening and would have read the book myself instead

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