Solstice [Hardcover]

Joyce Carol Oates (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 23, 1985

One of the most engrossing of Joyce Carol Oates's earlier novels explores a relationship between two women.

Originally published in 1985, Solstice is the gripping story of Monica Jensen and Sheila Trask, two young women who are complete opposites yet irresistibly attracted to each other. Blonde, shy, recently divorced Monica is a school teacher; dark, nocturnal, sophisticated Sheila is a painter of stature, driven by the needs of her art. Over the months, their friendship deepens, first to love and then to a near-fatal obsession.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A powerful beam into the dark places of the soul. -- The New York Times

Oates's novel is spellbinding, entrancing reading. -- West Coast Review of Books --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Joyce Carol Oates is one of our most important and well known writers—and one of America’s foremost writers of the short story form. She is also a regular contributor of reviews and criticism for the New York Times Book Review, The New York Review of Books, and elsewhere. She also reads and lectures widely throughout the US, at universities and bookstores. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 243 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; 1st edition (January 23, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525242937
• ISBN-13: 978-0525242932
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,219,515 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joyce Carol Oates is the author of more than 70 books, including novels, short story collections, poetry volumes, plays, essays, and criticism, including the national bestsellers We Were the Mulvaneys and Blonde. Among her many honors are the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction and the National Book Award. Oates is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University, and has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars tale of a dark and fascinating friendship, November 19, 2001

By 

Erica L. Andersen "melvin990" (NY, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Solstice (Hardcover)

This is an intriguing look at an almost obsessive friendship between two women. It's also an interesting commentary on academia, the art world. Contemporary issues such as class and rape are also explored. However, it was the story of the chilling relationship between the two women that hooked me and wouldn't let me put the book down. I think that this book can be read on many levels. I enjoyed reading it for pleasure, but it is dense enough for all kinds of literary analysis.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartless and "Sol"ful, December 7, 2001

By 

Angie Engles (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Solstice (Hardcover)

I first read this book in 1986 and have read it twice more since then. Joyce Carol Oates is the first contemporary American author I remember impressing me enough to linger with me long after I'd read her work. "Solstice," like other works by Joyce Carol Oates, does not paint a pretty picture. Great fiction is often about complex, sad, scary, bitter relationships. Happy relationships are better left to the Harlequins of this world. Sometimes when you're in a weird, complex mood you want weird, complex reading...catharsis and all that...

"Solstice" lingers like someone's presence after she's left the room. If you look at some reviews written about this book, there is mention of everything from stormy psyches to lesbian subtext. Whatever the motivation behind Monica and Sheila's relationship, fascination and even some kind of subtle hatred works into it. Monica is transfixed by Sheila and Sheila seems to need Monica as some kind of dumping ground. They'd probably just as soon want to walk away from each other with a clean break, but they can't. As Shelia says, "we'll be for friends for a long, long time...unless one of us dies." Probably a normal thing to say, but still sort of creepy.

They behave more like people in love than friends; what they have is not exactly chemistry, but it has drawing power. I always thought this novel was more about hatred than love, but sometimes hatred is love in confusion.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars One burning question remains -- "WHY?", January 26, 2001

By 

Tanja L. Walker "Tanja L. Walker" (Norman, OK USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Solstice: A Novel (Paperback)

Don't let the fact I only gave this book three stars deter anyone from buying this book. "Solstice" is a good read in the traditional Joyce Carol Oates tradition -- lots of reflection, oblique references to past events leading to current madness, a slightly ironic tone. I enjoyed reading the interaction between Monica and Sheila, how they both seemed to need each other, yet could bring out the worst in each other. However, I never understood why Monica became so obsessed with Sheila and her work. Opposites may attract, but these two women don't even have opposites in common, other than in Sheila's dark looks and Monica's blonde radiance. They are simply two completely different women. I suspect this book is best suited to reading in a college classroom setting, with ample opportunities for discussion and feedback on what this book "means." Or perhaps as a book club selection. I admit defeat -- I alone could not decipher it.