Although I haven't read Oates for years i was an ardent fan at one point in my life. "We were the Mulvaney's" was a huge disappointment. Oates still shows her amazing descriptive skills,but I did not believe one character in this book.I did not believe that the parents presented the way they were in the beginning of the book would ever have reacted to the plight of their beloved daughter in that way...especially the mother. Oates does not prove her point that lovable quirky people can turn into clueless monsters in the face of trauma. Thumbs down!