Little Bird of Heaven

     From the first word to the last, Little Bird of Heaven is a novel of enticement.  It begins in the midst of the decay that has become Krista "Krissie" Diehl's family.  Though she is only in high school, the pain that the murder of Zoe Kruller has caused will shape the rest of her life. 

     Also  changed forever are her mother, Lucille; her brother, Ben; and most of all her father Eddy, who has been accused of murdering Zoe.  Zoe had many lovers and an abusive, estranged husband, but Eddy was with her that night.  In fact, Eddy wasn't home at all that night.  To everyone but Krista, this is irrefutable evidence of his guilt.

     Only Zoe's son Aaron knows that there's another suspect:  his father Delray.  Delray is a drinker, a temperamental man.  Aaron knows this, knows his father never came home that night, but he also knows that his father loved Zoe too much to hurt her.  When police question him after he discovers Zoe's body, he lies.  His father was home all night, he tells them.  Aaron is sure that it was Eddy Diehl.
     The whole community of Sparta feels the same.  Eddy Diehl, once an upstanding citizen, a good guy, a pal, is now considered a criminal, not convicted but ostracized.  His death with change Krista's life even more than Zoe's.


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     It was just a few years ago that I first encountered her writing.  At the time the name Oates meant nothing to me,  but now, now it holds the promise of delicious depravity, mesmerizing malice, heart-wrenching honesty.  She reveals the true nature of men, the hidden thoughts that are told to no one. 

     I knew none of this that day, browsing my favorite bookstore with a hunger that had nothing to do with my stomach.  I was searching for something.  Undefined, but I would know it when I found it.  I needed something beyond the common drivel I sometimes cowered behind.

     I combed through Fiction, looking for something to fill my shriveling intellect.

     The title drew my attention:  BEASTS roared at me in fierce red script.  I took it gingerly from the shelf, held the small black book in my hands as if it would bite.  I opened to a random page somewhere in the middle, read a few paragraphs.  Became entranced.  I wanted this book, I felt a need for this book, I craved it.  But I was jobless and had little money.  Jobless, with books as my only solace.  Yes, I thought, I need this book. 

     I checked the back of the book-- less than ten dollars! There was no question now, this book would be leaving with me.  

     I devoured BEASTS and have since gone back for more, more, more.  I added others to my bookshelf:  Black Girl White Girl; Faithless; The Falls; The Female of the Species; Foxfire; i am no one you know; Middle Age; Missing Mom; Sexy; We Were the Mulvaneys.  Lying next me to me, read and used, is Little Bird of Heaven.  These have not satisfied me. On my long "to read" list are more titles:  The Gravedigger's Daughter; Blonde; Rape: A Love Story.  More, more, more.




Have a favorite Oates novel?  Drop me a line at crackingspines@hotmail.com