Little Bird of Heaven by Joyce Carol Oates

This intense novel is about a young mother and wife called Zoe Kruller, who is brutally murdered. It uses mixed storylines and takes place in rural twentieth-century America (1983–2001).

There are two suspects: her estranged husband, Delray Kruller, and her lover Eddy Diehl. The story is told by Krista Diehl, daughter of Eddy, and Aaron Kruller, son of Zoe and Delray.

It is a story about passionate love, sex, abundance, cruelty, violence, and loss seen through the two young teenagers’ eyes.

Why did I like this novel so much?

I was intrigued, not knowing who the killer was. Why was Zoe murdered? Reading the same story but through entirely different eyes by the two narrators Aaron and Krista, I was struck by their desperation and loneliness, fanatically defending their own fathers and blaming the other.

The final chapter, which I absolutely loved, shows us the incredible strength of a woman and the power she found in herself to take control of her own life.

It is not until the very end of the novel that we find out the truth about what happened to Zoe. I couldn’t stop reading and finished this book in just two days. I can’t wait to start another great novel by Joyce Carol Oates.