Review of FOX by Joyce Carol Oates (New Release)

4 Stars 

This is a disturbing book with dark subject matter (pedophilia), but its psychological insight is impressive.

Francis Fox is a charismatic middle-school English teacher at a prestigious New Jersey private school, Langhorne Academy. His students love him, his colleagues regard him highly, and parents are enchanted as well. When his car is found submerged in a pond in a nature preserve and his body eventually identified, an investigation uncovers the truth behind his facade. Detective Horace Zwender discovers that Mr. Fox was aptly named; he was a fox hunting for kittens, a master manipulator and predator who was able to hide in plain sight, leaving a trail of damaged lives.

The book presents multiple points of view. Besides that of Fox, the reader is given the perspectives of his prepubescent victims, as well as various adults like parents of students, the headmistress of the school, friends, and others who are really secondary victims of Fox’s abuse. There’s even a chapter from the point of view of Princess Di, the dog belonging to the school’s headmistress. The narrative moves back and forth through time, so we learn about Fox before his arrival at Langhorne Academy and we follow the investigation after his death. At the end, the reader sees the long-term effects on Fox’s victims.

The book is a whodunnit, but it is also very much a character study. Fox is a repellent narcissist who has no difficulty justifying his abhorrent behaviour. He knows how to charm people. An interesting example is P. Cady, the headmistress, who is determined not to add a white male to the school’s staff but ends up being totally conned by Fox and becomes one of his staunchest supporters. He gives women false flattery so they will befriend him and provide him cover should his behaviour be scrutinized.

Fox’s victims are prepubescent girls, usually with an absent father. Fox grooms them by making them feel special. Because their thoughts and feelings are included, the reader comes to understand how a vulnerable young girl would fall victim to Fox. What chance does she have when even intelligent adult women are captivated? Zwender comments on the blurred boundaries between predator and prey: “The serial pedophile is like a serial killer: hiding in plain sight. He’s usually a nice guy, everyone likes him. It’s rare that a young girl isn’t in love with her abuser, that’s how the abuse is possible.”

The novel explores the abuses of power – how people like Fox are able to evade responsibility and how institutions are often complicit in enabling abuse by their inattention and passivity. The ripple effects of abuse are examined; it is not just victims who are impacted but their community as well. The book also touches on other topics like how socio-economic barriers can impede people from achieving their potential and how abuse can be facilitated by poor or inadequate parenting.

At almost 650 pages, this is a lengthy book, and there is certainly some repetition. However it is so well-written that my interest did not wane. The author excels at similes and metaphors. Those who accuse him of inappropriate behaviour, Fox thinks of as “Harpies. Shrieking beaks, razor-sharp talons, small beady-glaring eyes of raw jealousy.” Before P. Cady falls for Fox’s flattery, her smile “might be measured in single-digit millimeters.” When he first arrives at Langhorne Academy, Fox makes his way at a gathering of colleagues “like a sea lamprey through a school of oblivious lake trout.” When Fox thinks that he should marry so as to suggest a normal life, he observes one potential mate “with the grim-smiling resolve of a hungry carnivore contemplating a head of cabbage” and another “as if he’s wearing one of those lead-lined vests dental patients are made to wear when enduring X-rays.”

The novel examines the darkness of the human soul and uncomfortable truths so is a difficult and unsettling read. However, its psychological insight and emotional depth make it a worthwhile read. It is not a book a reader will soon forget.

Note: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.