Fates and Furies (Groff)

Book Reviews
[T]he elaborate, sensual and sometimes deliberately misleading story of a marriage…One of the pleasures of reading Ms. Groff is her sheer unpredictability: She can inject her narrator's voice at any time, turn a sentence into a small hurricane, even milk a greeting for far more than it's worth…Ms. Groff's prose can be gorgeous, especially with the erotic heat she brings to it here…[her] books…are too exotic and unusual to be missed.
Janet Maslin - New York Times


The deepest satisfaction gained by reading "Furies" after "Fates" lies less in admiring how tidily the puzzle pieces snap together—though they do—than in experiencing one's own kaleidoscopic shift of emotions and concerns. The disclosure of multiple secrets can have the effect of thinning a story, an abundance of answers overpowering all mystery, but Groff somehow manages to transform revelation into an agent of intricacy. As we know more, we know less—a rare and impressive result…Groff has created a novel of extraordinary and genuine complexity…The word "ambitious" is often used as code for "overly ambitious," a signal that an author's execution has fallen short. No such hidden message here. Lauren Groff is a writer of rare gifts, and Fates and Furies is an unabashedly ambitious novel that delivers—with comedy, tragedy, well-deployed erudition and unmistakable glimmers of brilliance throughout.
Robin Black - New York Times Book Review


The Florida author’s third novel is billed as her most ambitious yet, filled with sex, rage and revenge.
Wall Street Journal


Even from her impossibly high starting point, Lauren Groff just keeps getting better and better. Fates and Furies is a clear-the-ground triumph.
Ron Charles - Washington Post


Groff breaks the novel form open at the seams… What's different and remarkable about Groff's third novel can be summarized in two little words: the writing. Groff is a prose virtuoso, and in Fates and Furies she offers up her writerly gifts in all their glory
Chicago Tribune 
 

Audacious and gorgeous …. The result is not only deliciously voyeuristic but also wise on the simultaneous comforts and indignities of romantic partnership.
Los Angeles Times


 [Fates and Furies] is a stunning 360-degree view of a complex relationship… There’s almost nothing that [Groff is] not interested in and her skill set is breathtaking…It’s an incredibly ambitious work, she writes like her hands are on fire.
Richard Russo - NPR


Lauren Groff rips at the seams of an outwardly perfect marriage in her enchanting novel Fates and Furies.
Vanity Fair


We can’t help but be fascinated by the possibility of what goes on behind closed doors—especially if there’s a glam, madly-in-love couple on the other side. Meet Mathilde and Lotto. Groff’s novel unfolds in a he said/she said gutting drama that you won’t be able to resist.
Marie Claire


[This] story is a storm you hope won’t blow over: surprising, wild, with pockets of calm that build anticipation for the next squall… Groff scours her characters, laying them bare so questions of likability are moot. If, in the end, everyone is flawed, everyone also attains a kind of nobility.
Oprah Magazine


(Starred review.) In a swirling miasma of language, plot, and Greek mythology, Groff weaves a fierce and gripping tale of true love gone asunder.... There are moments when the writing feels self-indulgent, but, for the most part, it's an intoxicating elixir.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review.) In this surprising and complex love story, Groff explores the obsessive nature of love....Like a classic tragedy, Groff's novel offers high drama, hubris, and epic love, complete with Greek chorus-like asides. A singular and compelling literary read, populated with extraordinary characters —Joy Humphrey, Pepperdine Univ. Law Lib., Malibu, CA
Library Journal


(Starred review.) Dark and dazzling.... [Groff’s prose] seduces the reader as much as the golden couple at the center of the compelling story....Taking a page from Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl–like view of marriage, Groff fashions a searing, multilayered portrait of a union that seems to thrive on its darkest secrets.
Booklist


(Starred review.) An absorbing story of a modern marriage framed in Greek mythology.... The author gives this novel a harder edge and darker glow than previous work.... An intricate plot, perfect title, and a harrowing look at the tie that binds.
Kirkus Reviews