
A Fair Maiden
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Narrated by:
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Angela Goethals
About this listen
Sixteen year-old Katya Spivak is out for a walk on the gracious streets of Bayhead Harbor with her two summer babysitting charges when she's approached by silver-haired, elegant Marcus Kidder. At first, his interest in her seems harmless, even pleasant, like his name - a sort of gentle joke. His beautiful home, the children's books that he's written, his classical music, the marvelous art in his study, his lavish presents to her: Mr. Kidder's life couldn't be more different from Katya's drab working-class existence back home in South Jersey, or more enticing.
But by degrees, almost imperceptibly, something changes, and posing for Mr. Kidder's new painting isn't the light-hearted endeavor it once was. What does he really want from her? And how far will he go to get it?
©2009 The Ontario Review, Inc. All rights reserved (P)2009 BBC Audiobooks AmericaListeners also enjoyed...
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Editorial reviews
In what at first appears to be a modern-day Lolita, this novel chronicles the summer that 16-year-old Katya Spivak nannies for a wealthy family in Bayhead Harbor, New Jersey, and her developing friendship with the elderly (and also wealthy) Marcus Kidder. Kidder, a one-time children’s book author and artist, courts the young Katya, convincing her to spend more and more time with him, and eventually model for a portrait (for cash, of course). Katya is particularly vulnerable to his doting overtures, not only because she’s a poor girl from South Jersey, but because she was also abandoned by her father at a young age and her mother is a manipulative alcoholic. Still, throughout the novel she wavers under Kidder’s affections, drawn to his money and power, but unsure of what he really wants. Are his intentions merely those of a lustful, perverted old man, or is it something more? While trying to figure it out, there are plenty of cringe-worthy scenes. If Katya referring to him as an “elderly lover” with “sweet and sour breath” doesn’t turn your stomach, Kidder forcing her to pose in silky red lingerie just might.
Angela Goethals shines portraying the confused innocence of a girl on the brink of adulthood, as well as easily transforming into the formal, elderly Kidder. Her only misstep in the narration is when she embodies the voice of Katya’s mother the white trash Jersey accent takes on more of a North Dakota vibe. Her talent for pacing builds the tension perfectly in the sexually-charged scenes when Katya and Kidder are alone and keep the listener on the hook for the duration of the novel: Kidder and his intentions remain an enigma for 23 chapters, thanks to the air of mystery Goethals is able to maintain. Colleen Oakley
Critic reviews
At once it feels wrong; Katya is repulsed and repelled by this old man who seems to lust after her and ply her with sweet words and pay her like she’s a prostitute. It also feels right; she is intrigued, enthralled, captivated by the innocent admiration of the talented old soul. She feels loved as she never had before, adored for her beauty and youth.
Her family abandoned her, she has no friends, and no one seems to appreciate her for who she is. Katya is desperate to please, but proud and headstrong. She is lonely, but untrusting of everyone, most of all herself. She is compassionate, but stubborn. Mr Kidder brings out all the best and worst in her, and awakens her to what she is truly capable of.
My only complaint is that the author repeatedly references accents, but the narrator does not affect any accents. Regardless of that, it was a wonderful listen and made me want to look at more of JCO’s books.
Intense, Sad, and Gripping
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I believe I’d have enjoyed it more with a different narrator. I’m sure that Ms Goethals was chosen to portray the voice of a naive teenager but so much of the sharp poetry that is Joyce Carol Oates was lost.
Not my favorite JCO work
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A novella take on a classic
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Circa 1980s Lolita
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Its Not what I was Expecting
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Best Listen I’ve Had All Summer
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Should have provided trigger warning
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Disturbing
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weirdly gripping
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On one hand…
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