This was a very different and strange novel from Oates. THE ACCURSED is set in the town of Princeton, New Jersey in 1905-1906. There is a lot of the supernatural in the novel including specters, ghosts, and shape-shifting vampires. At the root of the story is the Slade family that is "accursed" for some unknown reason. Winslow Slade is the patriarch of the family, a Presbyterian minister and former governor of New Jersey. He dotes on his grandchildren especially Annabel who is about to be married. But on her wedding day she is abducted by a man who is not what he appears to be. But is she abducted or did she go with him willingly? There are other atrocities throughout the novel including murders but the heart of the novel is not really the horrors of the curse but the oppressors of the American ruling class. A lynching of a black brother and sister occurs in nearby Camden; women are oppressed and cannot vote; non-whites are not permitted to enroll at Princeton University; the working class has little rights and work at slave wages; and children are also forced to work 14 hour days.
The novel includes several historical figures from the time including Woodrow Wilson, who is then president of Princeton University;
Upton Sinclair, who is just getting fame for his novel
The Jungle; former President Grover Cleveland; Teddy Roosevelt; Jack London; Mark Twain; and even Sherlock Holmes puts in an appearance. Upton Sinclair is a socialist and also a prolific writer who wants to make life better for the working class. He admires Jack London, another socialist, and wants him to head his society. But Sinclair is disillusioned with London after meeting him in New York. London turns out to be a loud obnoxious brawler who likes his drink more than the ideals of Sinclair. Wilson is also very flawed. He takes no action on the lynching that happened nearby, he believes in segregation and wants to keep blacks out of Princeton, and he has an affair with another woman. Roosevelt and Twain are also not shown in the best of light.
This was a long novel at over 600 pages and it was sometimes difficult to read but I did find it compelling and I enjoyed Oates look at the historical figures included in the story. I have read several Oates novels and collections of stories and I have not been disappointed in them. I'm sure I will be reading more. Based on this one, I also want to read more about Jack London, Sinclair, Wilson, and Roosevelt. I did read
The Jungle several years ago and I know Sinclair was aiming it at the deplorable working conditions of the men in the packing houses of Chicago but it is better known for its role in the enactment of the
Federal Meat Inspection Act.
