I think this is my favourite novel I've read this year, especially the first half. Oates' prose is remarkable in painting an expansive yet particular picture of mid-century rural America. She brings the Walpoles to life with astonishing force and clarity.

The novel ostentively centers around Clara Walpole in particular, as each section is named after pivotal men in her life: Carleton, her father, Lowry, her rescuer and would-be lover, and Swan, her son. I liked Carleton's chapters in particular: an unflinching look at the life of a family of migrant farm workers, traveling from place to place, during the worst of the Great Depression. Oates refuses to romanticize life at the lowest rung of society,where people live on the edge of violence and where clinging to humanity seems almost an impossible task.

As Clara claws her way into "better lives" the tone and scope of the novel change in fascinating ways. Depressingly enough, there seems to be no "better way", as each of the Walpoles-Carleton, Clara, Swan- seem as bereft of choice, as imprisoned by circumstance, as motivated by violent desperation, despite the marked change of their material circumstances.