We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
#3 in my book challenge for 2006 was We Were the Mulvaneys. I veered from 2 quick graphic novel reads into Oates’s long, dense novel. This was the first book by Oates for adults that I have read, and I admired it. It is a family history, so thickly characterized I could almost swear the Mulvaneys were real. The Mulvaneys seem to have a charmed life until one awful, disruptive event sends them all spiralling down and out. It’s tragic, believable, and ultimately redemptive.