With the unflinching candor and sympathy for which Joyce Carol Oates is celebrated, the 14 stories of Dear Husband, examine the intimate lives of contemporary American families: the tangled ties between generations, the desperation-and the covert, radiant happiness-of loving more than one is loved in return.

A passionate bond between an adolescent son and mother has unexpected consequences. A woman is forced to realize, decades later, her childhood role in the destruction of a famous, beloved grandfather’s life. A man tries to break free of the enthralling and dangerous erotic obsession of his life. In the gripping title story, Oates boldly reimagines the true-crime story of Andrea Yates, the Texas mother who drowned her children in 2001. Several stories take a less tragic turn, exploring with mordant humor the shadowy interstices between self-awareness and delusion.

Dramatic, intensely rendered, and always provocative, Dear Husband, provides an unsettling and fascinating look into the mysterious heart of America.