Miao Dao (Dark Corners collection) by Joyce Carol Oates
Title: Miao Dao
Author: Joyce Carol Oates
Published: Sept. 27, 2018
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
Pages: 66
Genre: Short Story
Review: ebook
A girl comes of age with a vengeance—and help from a friend—in a tale of unnerving suspense from National Book Award winner and literary master Joyce Carol Oates.
Bad things have been happening since Mia began to mature. Her dad left. Boys at school can’t keep their hands to themselves. A lecherous stepfather has moved in. Her only refuge is an abandoned lot on her suburban cul-de-sac, crawling with feral felines—one of which follows Mia home. Ghostly white and affectionate, she is Mia’s new companion and—as Mia’s tormentors will soon discover—her fierce protector.
So I was kind of on the fence with this story. Mia is a normal girl yet when she starts to mature she starts to withdraw into herself. She doesn't want to catch the eye of anyone. She withdraws within herself. Yet, her mother doesn't seem to care! Her only happiness is the feral cats who live near her. She goes and feeds them and hangs out even though they won't get close enough to her. When she finds this beautiful white kitten things start turning a bit weird. The cat starts growing up quickly, the boys stop messing with Mia, then her stepfather starts being creepy. At the end of the story, I was kind of confused about what happened. Was it Mia who did it all and just used the cat as her way to cope and deal?
Joyce Carol Oates is a recipient of the National Book Award and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction. She is also the recipient of the 2005 Prix Femina for The Falls. She is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University, and she has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978. Pseudonyms ... Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.
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