The Accursed

The Accursed
Joyce Carol Oates

An eerie, unforgettable story of power, loss, and family curses in early 20th century Princeton.New Jersey, 1906: soon-to-be commander-in-chief Woodrow Wilson is president of Princeton University. On a neighbouring farm, muck-raking novelist Upton Sinclair, enjoying the success of The Jungle, has taken up residence with his family. Grover Cleveland, fresh out of his second term in the White House has retired to town for a quieter life. Meanwhile, the elite families of Princeton have been beset by a powerful curse—their daughters are disappearing. A young bride on the verge of the altar is seduced and abducted by a dangerously compelling man—a shape-shifting, vaguely European prince who might just be the devil. In the Pine Barrens on the edge of town, a mysterious and persuasive evil takes shape.When the bride's brother sets out against all odds to find her, his path will cross those of Princeton's most formidable people, from presidents past to its brightest literary luminaries, from Mark Twain to Jack London, as he navigates both the idyllic town and the Dante-esque landscape of the Barrens.An utterly fresh work from Oates, ‘The Accursed’ marks new territory for the masterful writer–narrated with her unmistakable psychological insight, it combines beautifully transporting historical detail with chilling fantastical elements to stunning effect.

JOYCE CAROL OATES

The Accursed

DEDICATION (#ulink_2870da63-98c7-5759-9c09-fa9305595f82)

for my husband and first reader, Charlie Gross;

and for my dear friends Elaine Pagels and James Cone

EPIGRAPH (#ulink_c7681f48-6b90-5e83-9ddc-4d90ed22bc68)

From an obscure little village we have become the capital of America.

—ASHBEL GREEN, SPEAKING OF PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY, 1783

All diseases of Christians are to be ascribed to demons.

—ST. AUGUSTINE

CONTENTS

Dedication (#ulink_282f2625-bd90-5c79-a84e-bab863990314)

Epigraph (#ulink_f0ac45fb-f56a-549d-970c-d4168ba986f9)

Author’s Note (#ulink_8975b52c-456a-5be6-a111-dd90b12b5204)

Map (#ued957291-693d-5ee7-9661-6c77f6c98ce0)

Prologue (#ulink_e04f777e-378b-5969-b039-0f09d575c53e)

Part One - DEMON BRIDEGROOM (#ulink_ce82330e-d06b-5083-8387-09f468c9e546)

Ash Wednesday Eve, 1905 (#ulink_3bdf1cf0-7eb7-57ad-bac5-d126d82112f1)

Postscript: “Ash Wednesday Eve, 1905” (#ulink_353e588e-705d-574f-8ac7-c9f07e81f7cd)

Narcissus (#ulink_e2c5fb10-dd56-54ac-b56e-9084f9512916)

The Spectral Daughter

Angel Trumpet; Or, “Mr. Mayte of Virginia”

Author’s Note: Princeton Snobbery

The Unspeakable I

The Burning Girl

Author’s Note: The Historian’s Confession

The Spectral Wife

The Demon Bridegroom

Part Two - THE CURSE INCARNATE

The Duel

Postscript: The Historian’s Dilemma

The Unspeakable II

The Cruel Husband

The Search Cont’d

October 1905

“God’s Creation as Viewed from the Evolutionary Hypothesis”

The Phantom Lovers

The Turquoise-Marbled Book

The Bog Kingdom

Postscript: Archaeopteryx

The Curse Incarnate

Part Three - “THE BRAIN, WITHIN ITS GROOVE . . .”

“Voices”

Bluestocking Temptress

The Glass Owl

“Ratiocination Our Salvation”

The Ochre-Runnered Sleigh

“Snake Frenzy”

Postscript: Nature’s Burden

“Defeat at Charleston”

“My Precious Darling . . .”

“A Narrow Fellow in the Grass . . .”

Dr. Schuyler Skaats Wheeler’s Novelty Machine

Quatre Face

“Angel Trumpet” Elucidated

“Armageddon”

Part Four - THE CURSE EXORCISED

Cold Spring