Book Review
Title: Rape: A Love Story
Author: Joyce Carol Oates
Genre: Crime/Family
Rating: *****
Review: As the title suggest, this book is all about rape, specifically gang rape, so if this is triggering to you please do not read this review as I will be going into detail. We are introduced to our protagonist, Teena Maguire, and her daughter Bethie who are attacked in the early minutes of July 5th, 1996 where Teena was gang-raped, beaten and left for dead and yet there are still people saying that she was asking for it and that it was her own fault being dressed he way she was with her 12 year old daughter after midnight, just taking a short cut home through the park. We learn that John Dromoor, former soldier now police officer was Teena’s friend after they met in a bar and when she offered for him to call he replied with he’d like to but his wife was having their first baby in a few weeks. Appreciating his candour they became friends but they wouldn’t see each other for two years until the night she was raped. We then learn more about Bethie who was at a party with her mother and shortly before midnight they decided to head home despite the offer of staying with a friend for the night.
We actually get to witness the event through Bethie’s eyes which was horrific enough but afterwards where she is the one who gets help, helps the police identify five of the men responsible although there could have been more but she couldn’t be sure about them only to be confronted with her age, at 12 still considered a child her word was questioned when Bethie knows she would never be able to forget those faces just as she could never live in the before now they were in the after. Bethie and her mother also lose their identities as Teena is now known as the woman who was gang-raped in the park and Bethie is just known as Teena’s daughter. John Dromoor is one of the officers who was first on the scene and he even visits the hospital although he quickly leaves knowing he can't get involved as a father to an 18 month old and another on the way in less than 7 months. We bear witness to the long road of recovery that Teena is facing and for a while her injuries mean she doesn’t remember the actual rape but these memories do return in time. However, during this time, they are constantly harassed by the families of the men Bethie identified, some going as far as murdering her grandmother’s cat. By the time the hearing comes around in September 1996, there is mayhem, the lawyers present two different cases, one of a vicious attack and the other of a fabricated rape from a known prostitute.
In between these events we hear from Casey who was Teena’s boyfriend at the time but he doesn’t know how to be with Teena after the rape despite claiming to love her. We also hear from John Dromoor who feels extremely strongly about the case which might be because he has some feeling for Teena although he has never acted on them or even voiced them apart from that initial night in the bar and even he is aware of the madness in the courtroom and the tactics the lawyers are using the confuse Teena who has problems with her memory, speech production and severely damaged eyesight after the rape. In the aftermath of the hearing, Teena wants to withdraw completely as she is terrified of the men but suddenly things start happening. Dromoor shoots one of the men dead claiming he was protecting Casey from a knife attack which was believed but you can smell the set up on this as Dromoor wanted justice for Teena and Bethie.
Two more men go missed and it is assumed that they jumped bail and are never heard from again and the final man arrested supposedly commits suicide completely freeing Bethie and Teena for the horrors of a trial. Teena leaves her mother and daughter behind to start a new life where she gets married and is happy. Bethie has a string of relationships with older men before settling down with her husband but she can never ever forget the love she has for John Dromoor that even years after the events of 1996 is still there and she still longs for his knowledge and compassion in the pursuit of justice. Honestly, Rape was an amazing story to read, personally I would have liked it to have been longer and more in-depth especially the strange yet beautiful relationship that never was between Bethie and John Dromoor but overall, I was really happy with the way the story went and what happened in the end.
Buy it here:
aperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk
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