The Virgin in the Rose Bower by Joyce Carol OatesMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book was very stange. I have read everything I could find on the web to get an idea of what I was missing. Apparently it was written this way in the misguided idea that rarely in real life to we have all the answers in a mystery. What this means is that the reader is struggling to figure out what the various strange happenings and murders in the Honeymoon bedroom mean, who did them, why, and most importantly, how. Well, you are never quite sure of most of the above, especially the "how."
I also read that is was a parody on the Gothic mystery, but I wasn't really satisfied with that. I agree with one reviewer that it needed to be either a parody or a Gothic mystery, but not both. On the other hand, the book was very interesting. It had the feel of The Moonstone and The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins and I think it could have been as good if there was an explanation of the mystery. I did like it and I figured out enough of the solution to feel somewhat satisfied, but it could have easily been a great book.
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