Report - Book Report/Review Example

“Rape: A love Story” Book Review “Rape: A love story” is a little contradictory and provocative book written by Joyce Carol Orates and was published in 2003. Although the novel is fiction, there is nothing unreal about the book for thousands of women. Orates begins her chase with a powerful opening line; “After she was gang-raped, kicked and beaten and left to die on the floor of filthy boathouse at Rocky Point Park” (Orates,3). From this opening line, she describes details of a crime and its impact on the people involved.

Teena Maguire is a good looking and pretty single woman. One day Teen makes a wrong decision and it seems to be one of the major turning points of the story. Her decision was to walk through an isolated route home with her 12 year old daughter after her boyfriend’s party. They are followed by a gang of drunken youths and the gang raped Teena is left to death. The very next day, NFPD officer Dromoor who was a Gulf War veteran served in the Operation Desert Storm finds her. The author narrates the effect of that bad event on the mother, daughter, rapists and their families, and even on the whole community.

Although Teena’s physical nightmare of rape had ended after some days, she could not survive the psychological impacts. As Teena had been living in a small town, almost everyone knew both the victims and perpetrators; this situation made her recovery worse. Dromoor undertakes the protection of Teena and her family, and this twist takes the story to some other spheres. In the novel, one of the rapists was shot dead and the other two disappear. Orates tends to argue the presence of a silent angel behind every struggling persons.

The writer also reflects the view that no unpleasant situation would last forever. The illustration of good men-Dromoor, Casey (Teena’s boyfriend), and Walt Pick (father of two of the rapists)-with the bad men seems to be one of the most interesting contrasts in the book. The author does not try to moralize any of the characters or situations and that is why this book works so well. Another attractive element of this book is that Orates never tries to judge or lead the reader, other than merely telling the story.

While evaluating this book, it is evident that the texture of the book almost resembles a journal, particularly when initial story developments are described. From the start to finish, Orates’ style of narration makes the book very filmic. For instance, the story does not narrate many of Dromoor’s key actions and hence readers are left to reach their own conclusions. Moreover, the flow of the story has been perfectly paced so that it is very difficult for the reader to guess what to come every turn.

Although the most part of the story is told from Bethal’s point of view, some parts have been presented from several perspectives. Works CitedOrates, Joyce Carol. Rape: A Love Story. New York: Da Capo Press, 2003. Print.