oyce Carol Oates latest offering is dark, disturbing and challenging, multilayered historical fiction set in late 1970s Detroit. The central character is 39 year old Hannah Jarrett, married to wealthy businessman Wes, her privileged lifestyle, however, has bought her little in the way of happiness. She is a mother to 2 small children, has a nanny, and lives a life serving on charitable committees and the like, but is dissatisfied, feeling a self hatred, unloved and invisible. This leaves Hannah all too vulnerable to the attentions of a sinister stranger, of whom she knows virtually nothing, whose first hypnotic touch draws her into a ill advised and dangerous affair that leads to suspicions and the unravelling of her life as she knows it.

Detroit is a city where terror and fear abounds, children, mainly boys, are being abducted and murdered by a serial killer, known as the Babysitter. In a chilling and suspenseful narrative that goes back and forth in time, we learn of Hannah's past, and that there are certain parallels in Hannah's personal situation and the victims chosen by the Babysitter. The prose is often jarring and chaotic, so much so that on occasions it can feel incoherent and difficult to follow. Make no mistake, this is a tough, troubling, violent and brutal read that will not be for everyone. Oates, an accomplished writer, makes this a gripping, intelligent and incisive read that provides a pertinent social and political commentary of the time.

This heartbreaking novel touches on themes and issues of women's roles and positions, the misogyny, sexual predators, corruption, power and privilege, abuse of power, and the nature and different forms of racism. This complex and oppressive historical novel does not set out to provide all the answers, a highlight for me is the characterisations, Oates make the character feel so real and authentic. Whilst the focus is on a America and Detroit of the 1970s, at the same time it throws a harsh light on our present contemporary realities where so little appears to have changed. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I just couldn't get my head around this book, i found the main character Hannah irritating and annoying it was all me me me. I struggled to take in the disturbing descriptions of the author and trust me i lie a good crime novel. But this one really didn't appeal.
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me the chance to read this book but sadly it wasn't for me. x

Babysitter is a challenging book, primarily due to the irritation the reader quite often feels at the central character Hannah's decision making. Hannah's life is mind numbingly boring as a suburban housewife who embarks on a sadomasochistic affair with a complete stranger. Set amidst a community scarred by a spate of historic child abductions/murders the trust that Hannah gives to a complete stranger appears even more obtuse. Themes of child abuse and the clear effect that this has on adult behaviour run throughout, with present actions produced by past trauma.

I was left unclear what 'type' of book Babysitter intends to be - a social commentary; a crime novel or a mix of the two. Not an easy read.

Joyce Carol Oates never ceases to amaze me as a literary genius and "Babysitter" is an intuitive, empowering and poignant attest to that.

Exquisitely written, this is a fascinating exploration of upper middle class life on the outskirts of Detroit in 1970's, as a serial killer targets children. Full of complex characters, this is a grim book, that gets more grim towards the end but it so fabulously written you can't stop reading. The way that Joyce Carol Oates undermines the world of privilege and misogyny is fascinating, often subtle, like when Hannah thinks; 'Joker Daddy wryly observed: Women fight 'small' because there's no 'large' for them to fight about.'

Not for the faint hearted but for those who like subtle books with great depth.

With thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm always interested to read Joyce Carol Oates books although I usually prefer her short stories. I can't always say I like her novels but they do draw me in even if they tend to end abruptly, like this one leaving more questions than answers. The story is set in 1970's Detroit but felt much more current to me. The story starts with a woman in a lift going up to the penthouse of a fancy hotel for a sexual encounter with a mystery man and we are privy to her thoughts as she is unsure she wants to go through with meeting the man.. At first I thought the woman was an escort but she is in fact a wealthy socialite who is bored with her surburban life. Around this story there is also a sub plot about children being kidnapped and murdered by a serial killer dubbed "The Babysitter."
The narrartive style is quite stocatto like and disjointed like the protagonist's thoughts. It was interesting but ultimately unsatisfying for me as the plotlines led to no conclusions.

A very rare DNF for me. I couldn’t get on at all with the writing style here and the slow pace of the plot seemed to disguise the fact that nothing very much at all was happening. I got a third of the way through and I just didn’t find it compelling enough to go on - it’s the first novel in more than a year I haven’t finished but it just wasn’t to my taste. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Many others have outlined the plot of Babysitter, so I won't go into that too much here. Basically, a serial killer of young boys is terrorising Detroit. Hannah, well-off and bored, is the mother of a boy and girl and is naturally fearful for them. But when the touch of a stranger's hand awakens a strong sexual urge, she is ready to take risks with her way of life and her family.

Hallucinatory yet darkly realistic, the writing is superb. We wind in and out of reality, through Hannah's thoughts and imagination, her uncomfortable childhood memories and her stultifying ordinary life. Worst of all, is her treatment by her mysterious lover, a man with no name, who both enthrals and terrifies her. It can only end in tragedy and so it does, though in unexpected ways.

This is a powerful book that comments on the racial, sexual and gender injustices of a past time - a time that still lurks beneath the surface of modern society. We are not spared the physical and psychological degradations of Hannah and the disturbed youth, Mikey, with whom she comes into contact. Hannah is not a particularly sympathetic character; her actions are often stupid and self-serving, though she pays heavily for her foolishness and her desire to be loved. Her life spins out of control and the repercussions are deadly.

Babysitter ends with questions still to be answered. What exactly happened when ...? Where have the family gone? Who exactly was ... ? - and such like. This all adds to the mysterious and hallucinatory nature of the book. Brilliant.

Someone, nicknamed Babysitter, is abducting and ritually killing young children in the poor suburbs of Detroit. He might also be Hannah’s lover! I say ‘might’ because she doesn't really know what a “Lover” is , has no real evidence that he has anything to do with the murders – it’s just a feeling she has. More significantly, we don't know because she is an unreliable and erratic narrator. The story, set in 1977, starts with her approaching the hotel room in which she meets her lover when he's in town, but immediately starts to go into reverse, not flashbacks as such, but in sequential leaps and then progressively forward. Is this opening scene the first visit or the latest? This is the reality within her head. Or not? She is clearly unstable, but has she always been that way or is this a consequence of the affair? Perhaps I should have clarified that earlier. Hannah is married to Wes, a very rich businessman (casually misogynistic, blatantly racist, and probably serially unfaithful), and they have two (very young) children and a Filipino housekeeper (who really runs the household with no interventions). They live in an affluent suburb far from Babysitter’s hunting ground. One evening, at a fundraiser Hannah has co-chaired, a stranger briefly grasps her wrist and seduces her, in front of everyone and with nothing overt – a sort of magical hypnosis. And so she becomes his lover – a completely illogical act, especially when he shows himself to be sexually egregiously sadistic. But it is what it is!
Intercalated within the above story, the episodes involving Babysitter appear almost as a separate tale. Babysitter is one of a number of rich men, paedophiles, whose wealth and position protect them. All are, of course, as guilty as sin but only he, the richest by far, has the urge or will for the extremity of the crime. Gradually we come to see how the two men are linked.
This book is a hard read for two reasons. Firstly Hannah’s chronology is confusing, especially at the beginning, but occasionally throughout, and eventually colliding with the beginning. Keeping track is challenging. Secondly the detailed descriptions of their sadistic love affair, and the equally painted, weird world inside Babysitter’s head, the way he plans and executes the ritual deaths, are disquieting and, for some readers, horrifying. It follows from the above that the writing needed to be very skilful; in the hands of a lesser author it would all fall apart. Joyce Carol Oates, author of over a hundred books and other pieces of writing, has such skill, of course. The book is an expansion of a ‘horrific’ short story first published in 2005 and, while wondering how this novel of 448 pages could be stripped down to the 10 pages of the original, it does make one wonder if this is just egregious padding. Anyway I’d make it 3.5 so rounded to 4.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

Babysitter isn’t an easy book to read. Written in a rather detached style, the protagonist is a woman called Hannah, who lives in a wealthy suburb of Detroit in the 1970s. In her late thirties, she is married to a man who bores her and her life is a long round of childcare and charitable commitments. A chance encounter at a ball leads to a dangerous affair with a wealthy businessman. Surrounding and interlinked with the main story is a narrative about young children being kidnapped and murdered by a man who has been dubbed The Babysitter by local press.
Somehow the book didn’t quite work for me. Hannah is a difficult character to emphasise with, her actions are so irrational and dangerous. It seems unlikely that her husband and housekeeper would really believe the lies and fabrications she puts forward. The Babysitter narrative is more interesting but doesn’t really go anywhere in the end. The ending was sudden and left too many questions. Joyce Carol Oates is a beautiful and very accomplished writer and I particularly enjoyed the stuttering style of the first few chapters when Hannah is deciding whether to go through with the affair. Over the course of the novel, though there are stand out passages, I couldn’t fully engage with the narrative enough to say I really enjoyed it. Thank you to #netgalley and #4thestatebooks for allowing me to review this ARC.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book which was a shame as it was the first one I had read by this author and I was looking forward to reading a different type of novel. The style of the book was difficult to read as the prose didn't flow and the main character was not one that you feel particularly sympathetic towards. There were a lot of serious issues in the book such as narcissistic behaviour, racism, child abduction/ murder and entitlement. The book is set in 1970's Detroit but I feel the issues raised are completely relatable to the USA of today.

I cannot say I've warmed up to Oates's writing style. This type of staccato: bullets in fast succession as if fired from a machine gun type of writing that I guess is somewhat of a staple for "modern" literature does't necessary do it for me, but does't put me off either! And under Oates pen it acquired a certain "je ne sais quoi" that kept me enthralled for the first half of the book. The almost dream like quality of Hannah's narrative and the jumping from one subject to the next made for a hypnotic read that I would have like to continue until the end. But the second part the of the book if much more anchored in reality and fast paced, striping away the layer that so fascinated me! And let me tell you that I was less than impressed by the core story as it's chock-full of all the stereotypes floating out there. Hanna is just a hollow white rich wife, abused and unloved by all those around her: from her dad, to her husband, to her lover that's only using her as a pawn in his power game. She only has her art committees and her motherhood, and even those are not fulfilling. The mastermind behind all the criminals in the novel, the one that pulls all the strings, cleans everything and banks all the monies is obviously a Jew, and an immigrant Jew too! The constant fight between them and us, a ever present racial fight that obviously couldn't have been left out of an novel that's on a quest to include each and every type of stereotype in existence. And the list goes on and on.... At least the end eludes at some interesting development on Hanna's side...

All in all a nice introduction to Joyce Carol Oates. I may try one of her older books.

Hannah is nearly 40 and in a ‘good’ marriage but one that is dull. Then she meets a charismatic man who thrills her with his first touch. An affair starts but this is no ordinary affair. It is dark, compulsive and slowly consuming Hannah. And it is violent.

This is set against a background of real life horrific child abuse and murders in Detroit in the late 1970s. The bodies were neatly posed in the snow and some newspapers began calling the perpetrator the Babysitter Killer after it was reported the children were found washed and groomed, their clothes meticulously put back on.

The tale twists back and forth and entwines and most of it is, frankly, terribly disturbing. Oates writes with precision, with nothing wasted, but sometimes in a flurry of words, like an impression, which you can almost skim through, especially given the level of emotional shock for the reader. I found I had to stop reading and have a ‘normal’ pause.

A drawback for me was that I felt little empathy for the main character Hannah, a ‘rich bitch’ who repeats the same patterns over and over without any deep thought. I did not think Oates had much sympathy for her either. In fact, none of the characters are at all appealing and as a UK reader the book, set in Detroit, feels alien throughout. What could I learn from this? Did I highlight quotes(very usual for me)? No. I suppose the lesson lies in exploring alternative lifestyles. Ones you really don’t want to imagine. Or explore.

I have read her ‘Black Water’ and a few short stories and the style is familiar. She gets to the point quickly. She is a good writer but this just was not for me. Too much discomfort. But I guess that would be part of Joyce Carol Oates’ intention. If you have a strong stomach then go ahead.

I read a copy provided by NetGalley and the publishers but my views are my own.

Full of memorable, finely drawn characters and set against a turbulent time in history, this story eventually weaves the disparate threads into a cohesive if somewhat horrific narrative.
A challenging read in both the subject matter and the style of writing but worth persevering with.

I hadn’t read any of Joyce Carol Oates’s previous books (and boy there are a lot) but I enjoyed an interview with her I saw during lockdown and was intrigued by the description of Babysitter. I like her writing style; there’s an element of repetition that builds tension, and the parenthetical comments provide a glimpse of the inner voice and uncertainties. It’s really pacy, one sentence bleeding into the next.
Most of the time, we’re with Hannah, a wife and mother living in the Detroit suburbs who is insulated by affluence. Oates makes it easy to imagine the world Hannah inhabits and her privileged yet stultifying existence. It’s set in the 70s but in some ways seems so close to today’s reality. A chance encounter leads Hannah away from her ordered life to reckless behaviour she struggles to comprehend. I found myself sympathising with her while wanting to shake her out of her delusion.
The other part of the story concerns a series of child abductions and murders, perpetrated by someone the local press has dubbed ‘Babysitter’; interspersed are the voices of some of the lost children. I found Babysitter deeply unsettling, partly because of the subject matter but especially concerning the poison of racism. How easily fear can tip into anger; actions, however minor they seem at the time, can have grave consequences.
I suspect there’s a lot more going on in Babysitter that I’ve taken in at first read; I think there are uncomfortable parallels to be drawn between America then and now. Plus ça change?

Since 1963, Oates has published almost 60 novels, so I was intrigued what she would offer her discerning readers in ‘The Babysitter’. At the heart of the plot is Hannah, a thirty-something bored housewife and mother, who splits her time between yoga sessions and charity fundraisers. In an attempt to spice up her life, she engages in an illicit affair with a menacing character known only as Y.K. The tale of Hannah’s increasingly dangerous loss of control plays out against 1970’s Detroit where a child killer sarcastically referred to as the ‘babysitter’ is on the loose. Oates deals with serious topics of compromised social mores, racial and social inequalities, rape, murder and coercive control. Her stream-of-consciousness writing style and her montage techniques are as accomplished as ever, but for me, the novel lacks the sense of place that Oates conveys so well in ‘The Falls’ or ‘We Were the Mulvaneys’. Instead of Detroit in the 1970s, ‘The Babysitter’ could in fact be set in any era, and any major US city, so this is something of an omission as a stronger sense of place would have added even more depth to the novel.

Nevertheless, my thanks go to NetGalley and to the publishers for the complimentary ARC I was given to allow me to produce this book review.

I am a fan of JCO, so let's start with that. For me, then, this novel didn't disappoint. It is, in deed, a complex, and often complicated, text to read and requires a lot of the reader because of it. Also keep in mind that Detroit in 1977 (the setting) is not now, so be aware that sexism and racism, and the way in which JCO writes about that are relevant to the time and place. The protagonists, Hannah, is a middle class woman, married, a mother, wealthy, who is tempted into an affair after a simple and singular meeting with a man at a dinner. What makes this novel work, for me, is the interweaving of what could alone be a compelling story of a woman going off the rails, with the backdrop of a child serial killer, known as the Babysitter.

JCO links the life of a woman who is living amidst what would become feminism, equality etc with human desire, societal inequality, violence and racism, using a style that, OK, can be tricky to read unless you truly commit. There is some flashing back and forth and a use of language that is unique - sometimes flowing seamlessly, sometimes stopping mid-point. The effect is a montage of scenes with the responsibility placed on the reader to piece it together.

A definite recommend for JCO admirers: extremely clever, and for me, a joy to read. My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Craving an identity of her own, the wife of an affluent businessman embarks on an affair with an enigmatic stranger. A hustler has ambitions to make something of himself. A serial killer known only as Babysitter preys upon young boys. These three lives intersect in 1970s Detroit, a city festering with patriarchy and racism.

Power is all in this suspenseful thriller.

JCO excels at character, and weaves together the different strands of the narrative masterfully.

My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC.

‘Babysitter’ took me some time to read. Perhaps the fragmented telling and the opaque characters had something to do with this although I’m not usually one to put down a book because the narrative is tricksy. Joyce Carol Oates is writing about important issues: social inequalities, disrespect towards women, low self-esteem, the role of motherhood, and racism, as well as the operations of a child serial killer. The ways in which she does so encourages the reader to engage in an intellectual-only relationship with the material. Not a bad thing per se, just not what I had been expecting.
My thanks to NetGalley and 4th Estate for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

In the waning days of the turbulent 1970s, in the wake of unsolved killings that have shocked Detroit, the lives of several residents are drawn together, with tragic consequences. There is Hannah, wife of a prominent local businessman, who has begun an affair with a darkly charismatic stranger whose identity remains elusive; Mikey, a canny street hustler who finds himself on an unexpected mission to rectify injustice; and the serial killer known as Babysitter, an enigmatic and terrifying figure at the periphery of elite Detroit. As Babysitter continues his rampage of killings, these individuals intersect with one another in startling and unexpected ways.

Suspenseful, brilliantly orchestrated and engrossing, Babysitter is a starkly narrated exploration of the riskiness of pursuing alternate lives, calling into question how far we are willing to go to protect those whom we cherish most. In its scathing indictment of corrupt politics, unexamined racism, and the enabling of sexual predation in America, Babysitter is a thrilling work of contemporary fiction.

Utterly compelling reading, The book is gripping and I wouldn’t hesitate to highly recommend it.