Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Marya: A Life
    Marya: A Life
    Marya: A Life
    Audiobook12 hours

    Marya: A Life

    Written by Joyce Carol Oates

    Narrated by Sadie Alexandru

    3/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    A deeply intimate psychological portrait of a young woman's tragic childhood, her reinvention as a successful young artist in the literary circles of 1950s New York City, and her struggle to understand and overcome the trauma of her past.

    Growing up in the confines of Innisfail, a bleak town in upstate New York, bright and curious Marya endures abandonment, betrayal, and loneliness. A college scholarship offers escape, taking her to New York City, where she makes a name for herself in academic and literary circles. But success cannot overcome the damage of her childhood, pain that haunts Marya’s personal, professional, and romantic relationships, and has left her unmoored.

    Psychologically nuanced, rich in insight and emotional complexity, told with the unsettling power of Joyce Carol Oates’s gothic novels, Marya: A Life is an intense look into the psyche of a young woman and an illuminating exploration of how the past reverberates throughout our lives.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateApr 28, 2020
    ISBN9780063022447
    Author

    Joyce Carol Oates

    Joyce Carol Oates is a recipient of the National Medal of Humanities, the National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Book Award, and the 2019 Jerusalem Prize, and has been several times nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. She has written some of the most enduring fiction of our time, including the national bestsellers We Were the Mulvaneys; Blonde, which was nominated for the National Book Award; and the New York Times bestseller The Falls, which won the 2005 Prix Femina. She is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University and has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978.

    More audiobooks from Joyce Carol Oates

    Related to Marya

    Related audiobooks

    Literary Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      By the RIVER’S EDGE

      Mar 22, 2023

      By the RIVER’S EDGE
      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Culling

      May 1, 2023

      The Culling
      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Evidence

      Mar 6, 2023

      Evidence
      25 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Wise old Mrs Merrow

      Jul 27, 2020

      Littlesea was everything the description said: a white stone cottage with beams and higgledy-piggledy walls and steps away from a tiny quay in a private bay. It would have been the perfect spot for honeymooners had it not had just the one single bed

      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Shanda

      Jan 1, 2024

      Shanda
      13 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      By the RIVER’S EDGE

      Mar 29, 2023

      By the RIVER’S EDGE
      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Rip Her To Shreds

      Feb 1, 2018

      Rip Her To Shreds
      11 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Marla

      Feb 4, 2021

      Marla
      12 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Mama

      Mar 10, 2024

      “Think your mom’s pushing too hard.” Hamish and Miriam were in the park, sitting at a picnic table, eating tuna sandwiches. Hamish was looking at his mother-in-law pushing their daughter Isabelle on the swing at the playground some distance away. “No

      12 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Nanny

      Dec 15, 2019

      There isn’t much in the house,” Mary said. “I’m sorry.” Kayla looked around, shrugged. “I’m not even that hungry.” Mary set the table, bright Fiestaware on place mats alongside fringed cloth napkins. They ate microwave pizzas. “Gotta have something a

      21 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Thirteen

      Jan 30, 2020

      Thirteen
      21 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Night Flying

      Aug 2, 2018

      Night Flying
      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Part 2 SOCKS

      Apr 1, 2022

      Part 2 SOCKS
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      By the RIVER’S EDGE

      Apr 5, 2023

      By the RIVER’S EDGE
      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Human Spirit

      Sep 2, 2021

      Human Spirit
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Cricket League

      Jan 1, 2022

      It was an unusual birthday. Colorful banners blanketed the backyard. Kids chased each other through the grass. Adults talked. It all went downhill from there. My little sister was turning five. On her birthday cake, painted in frosting, was a fat, pi

      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Solstice

      Mar 2, 2020

      Solstice
      12 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The LittleTHINGS

      Jul 5, 2022

      The LittleTHINGS
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Unmagical Cat

      Oct 1, 2023

      Unmagical Cat
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      AUNT MAUD’S SECRET Part 1

      Sep 1, 2021

      “WHAT! SERIOUSLY?” “Settle down, Martin,” said Ms. Phelps as she poured herself a second mug of coffee that morning. She sat down at the kitchen table, gently blowing on the steam. “Aunt Maud is so excited about her visit and really looking forward

      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Clarity

      Feb 1, 2019

      Clarity
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      How To Defend Against Vikings

      Aug 5, 2021

      How To Defend Against Vikings
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Brothers and Sisters

      Dec 7, 2021

      Passing through the hallway on their way out, her sisters tipped their heads in the direction of the statue of the goddess Durga. They did it automatically, almost imperceptibly, and with wide, innocent eyes, like spies letting their handler know the

      13 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      STEPPING Out

      Mar 4, 2020

      STEPPING Out
      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Remembering My Mother

      May 20, 2021

      Remembering My Mother
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Women’s Work

      Dec 15, 2020

      Women’s Work
      12 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Marya

    3/5

    55 ratings5 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Marya grows up in isolation in a small town in New York. Her mother abandoned her and her two brothers and she is raised by an aunt. Repeatedly raped and abused, she devotes herself to intellectual pursuits and seeks to flee her town forever. This intimate novel walks us through Marya's most dramatic moments as she tries to build a life for herself in a cruel world.

      A beautifully written novel about a powerfully resilient woman.
    • 4/5
      This book is said to be "my most personal" book by the author. It is her 17th book and was just released as an audible book in April this year. This is the story of Marya, a very resilient girl, who survived. She survived poverty, lost of her parents at an early age, sexual abuse, rape, bullying. You name it. It happened. This was one strong woman. Marya grew up in a rural area, got a scholarship to college because she was smart. She was also "striking" in appearance, probably beautiful but her manner was cold and she protected herself constantly from "feelings" hurting her. She did well in college, published early, fell in love finally, but never married. Not sure how autobiographical the story is cause it is a novel.

      Themes: defenselessness of female a child; adolescent behavior; the place of the brilliant, sensitive person in an ordinary world; the struggle with religious faith; and the politics of the academic world

      Rated 3.4
    • 3/5
      So disappointing. Small town girl, with grit and determination makes good. Marya is an unlikeable closed off character. A series of short stories made into a novel. Disappointing abrupt ending. Not one of her best novels.
    • 4/5
      Marya's life is described in chapters dealing with a traumatic childhood, religious observations, college experiences, a career in academia, and relationships. Throughout it all, the overwhelming feeling is one of loneliness and a life lived searching for a sense of belonging. The chapter dealing with thoughts on religion reminded me of Flannery O'Connor. The abrupt ending, although disconcerting, is probably intentional. I think this book is brilliantly written, and perhaps gives us more of an insight into JCO as a person than most of her fiction.
    • 2/5
      This book frustrated me. This is my first Oates read and I can't say that it made a good impression.
    pFad - Phonifier reborn

    Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

    Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


    Alternative Proxies:

    Alternative Proxy

    pFad Proxy

    pFad v3 Proxy

    pFad v4 Proxy