A garden of earthly delights

404 pages

English language

Published April 8, 2003 by Modern Library.

ISBN:: 978-0-8129-6834-7
OCLC Number:: 50803505

(1 review)

In A Garden of Earthly Delights, Oates presents one of her most memorable heroines, Clara Walpole, the beautiful daughter of Kentucky-born migrant farmworkers. Desperate to rise above her haphazard existence of violence and poverty, determined not to repeat her mother’s life, Clara struggles for independence by way of her relationships with four very different men: her father, a family man turned itinerant laborer, smoldering with resentment; the mysterious Lowry, who rescues Clara as a teenager and offers her the possibility of love; Revere, a wealthy landowner who provides Clara with stability; and Swan, Clara’s son, who bears the psychological and spiritual burden of his mother’s ambition.

A Garden of Earthly Delights is the first novel in the Wonderland Quartet. Joyce Carol Oates’s Wonderland Quartet comprises four remarkable novels that explore social class in America and the inner lives of young Americans.

10 editions

Sharyl reviewed A garden of earthly delights by Joyce Carol Oates (A Modern Library 20th century rediscovery)

Review of 'A garden of earthly delights' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Every time I read Joyce Carol Oates, I don't understand why I don't do it all the time. This novel was first published in 1967, which JCO later revised. This is the 2002 edition. That is another fascinating thing about Oates, as an author: that she has rethought and revised some of her work.

The title comes from a Hieronymus Bosch painting, which has been interpreted to represent the idea of paradise lost. Indeed, this historical novel, which starts during the depression, illustrates much that is tragic about society.

Clara Walpole is the central character, but her life is defined by the men in her life, who are drawn vividly. Her life starts as the daughter of a migrant worker, which means she worked from an early age and did not get an education. When she runs away and accepts help from a man she believes she is in love …

Every time I read Joyce Carol Oates, I don't understand why I don't do it all the time. This novel was first published in 1967, which JCO later revised. This is the 2002 edition. That is another fascinating thing about Oates, as an author: that she has rethought and revised some of her work.

The title comes from a Hieronymus Bosch painting, which has been interpreted to represent the idea of paradise lost. Indeed, this historical novel, which starts during the depression, illustrates much that is tragic about society.

Clara Walpole is the central character, but her life is defined by the men in her life, who are drawn vividly. Her life starts as the daughter of a migrant worker, which means she worked from an early age and did not get an education. When she runs away and accepts help from a man she believes she is in love with (at about age fourteen), her life is defined by his visits. Eventually, she is married to a rich man, which defines her socially. In the end, it will be her son who will change her life.

I've now completed The Wonderland Quartet, though I read the others ages ago. Each one is excellent.

Subjects

Children of migrant laborers -- Fiction
Fathers and daughters -- Fiction
Illegitimate children -- Fiction
Mothers and sons -- Fiction
Poor women -- Fiction