Oates, Joyce Carol
Sixteen-year-old Katya Spivak is out for a walk on the gracious streets of Bayhead Harbor with her two summer babysitting charges when she´s approached by silver-haired, elegant Marcus Kidder. At first his interest in her seems harmless, even pleasant; like his name, a sort of gentle joke. His beautiful home, the children´s books he´s written, his classical music, the marvelous art in his study, his lavish presents to her — Mr. Kidder´s life couldn´t be more different from Katya´s drab working-class existence back home in South Jersey, or more enticing. But by degrees, almost imperceptibly, something changes, and posing for Mr. Kidder´s new painting isn´t the lighthearted endeavor it once was. What does he really want from her? And how far will he go to get it? In the tradition of Oates´s classic story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" A Fair Maiden is an unsettling, ambiguous tale of desire and control.