Marya: A Life

By: Joyce Carol Oates

Narrated by: Sadie Alexandru

A deeply intimate psychological portrait of a young woman's tragic childhood, her reinvention as a successful young artist in the literary circles of 1950s New York City, and her struggle to understand and overcome the trauma of her past.

Growing up in the confines of Innisfail, a bleak town in upstate New York, bright and curious Marya endures abandonment, betrayal, and loneliness. A college scholarship offers escape, taking her to New York City, where she makes a name for herself in academic and literary circles. But success cannot overcome the damage of her childhood, pain that haunts Marya’s personal, professional, and romantic relationships, and has left her unmoored.

Psychologically nuanced, rich in insight and emotional complexity, told with the unsettling power of Joyce Carol Oates’s gothic novels, Marya: A Life is an intense look into the psyche of a young woman and an illuminating exploration of how the past reverberates throughout our lives.

slow & scattered

I struggled to finish, disjointed, not the Joyce Carol Oates I love. Narration was adequate.

Decent performance, standoffish main character

Full disclosure--I struggle with Joyce Carol Oates. I want to like her more than I do and while I wouldn't go so far as to say I dislike her, I pick up a novel every few years and then find myself struggling to connect with it. This was particularly the case with Marya, I think because the main character always feels a bit distant to me. I am sure people who love Joyce Carol Oates will really like this, as the narrator is good and the book itself is rumored to be a bit semi-autobiographical. But I will probably go another year or two before picking up another of her books.