Gayl Jones ... accomplishes the almost impossible: a second novel that's every bit as intense, brutally honest and haunting as her first
–Mademoiselle Jones's writing powerfully blends narrative and lyricism. Her people speak a spare, lean, Southern black language ... Her imagination seems to thrive on outstripping one's expectations– Margot Jefferson,
Newsweek Gayl Jones's work remains essential and vital; I will be rereading her catalog for the rest of my life– Kima Jones,
Nylon Gayl Jones is one furious, lacerating writer. You don't read her easily, and you can't forget her at all . . . Hyper-real and traumatic as this novel is, it's one that's been waiting to be written since Samuel Richardson gave us the male point of view of Clarissa, that other fallen woman whose only acceptable alternative to ravishment was death. Eva's silence, and her status here as legally insane, are eloquent testimony to the condition of being a woman in this man's world–
Kirkus
