As a fan of Oates' short stories, I did not like anything about this novel, from the characters to the narration. In the beginning, the music that played under the narration seemed as if it would never end, making an irritating distraction. Throughout, the volume of the narrator's voice was difficult to regulate with many lines falling completely out of my hearing range. The story itself is a disappointment from the way Christianity and faith are portrayed as mental illness to the final chapters of reunion that left too much unresolved.