You Must Remember This

Praise

Praise for You Must Remember This

“Prolific writer Oates demonstrates awesome talent in her new novel, a family saga, set against the backdrop of conservatism that marked America in the 1950s…a vivid portrait of bewildered, inarticulate people pushed against the narrow boundaries of their era by their emotions…Oates is not easy on her characters. She moves them through McCarthyism, backyard fallout shelters and illegal abortions, slapping them with harsh reflections of their weaknesses. Fully developed, they are described in language that is both elegant and gritty. The scenes between Enid and Felix add a pulsing, sensate eroticism. Infused with narrative energy, this is one of Oates’s strongest books in many seasons.”—Publishers Weekly
 
“Ms. Oates has, if anything, sharpened her feel for gritty urban settings and the passions and despairs that flame up there. The inner voice of adolescence is convincingly intense—it plays effectively against the raging and choked-down voices of adulthood.”—New York Times