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An uncanny novel which provides keen insight on patriarchal violence and female identity by the author of feminist cult classic Our narrator’s name and origins are unknown. The man she lives with, Oliver, who serves as both her caregiver and her captor, told her she came to him from another star. Though she arrived a grown woman, she did not yet have the ability to speak or count. Oliver had to teach her how to properly chew her food and clean herself. Though isolated from our world, he did his best to care for his charge and, she insists, always felt the need to develop her into more than she was. Now, she blends into our society, though she is different, wearing a blue blouse and gray suit and reading incessantly. The problem is, she can’t find Oliver. She goes back to their beginning to examine their relationship, a strange mix of father, lover, abuser, teacher. And then there is the question of Edith, a mysterious woman who has been writing to Oliver, and whose presence seems to haunt them both. Originally published in 1977 and woven from;fragments of nightmare and fantasy alike,
About the author
Elaine Kraf (1936–2013) was a writer and painter. She was the author of four published works of fiction—I Am Clarence (1969), The House of Madelaine (1971), Find Him! (1977), and The Princess of 72nd Street (1979)—as well as several unpublished novels, plays, and poetry collections. Kraf was the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts awards, a 1971 fellowship at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and a 1977 residency at Yaddo. She was born and lived in New York City.
Summary
An uncanny novel which provides keen insight on patriarchal violence and female identity by the author of feminist cult classic The Princess of 72nd Street
With an introduction by Violet Kupersmith
Understand my beginning with Oliver. You will see that my love for him is not a romantic fantasy. Every bit of this love was formed from the reality of primary needs—ingestion, excretion, simple pleasure and pain.
Our narrator’s name and origins are unknown, but she claims to be from “another star.” Though she arrived as a fully grown woman, she did not yet have the ability to speak or look after herself. She lives with Oliver, who serves as both her caregiver and her captor and keeps the two of them in isolation from the rest of the world. Though she has no freedom, she insists that he did his best to protect her, to develop her into something more than she was.
Now she blends into our society, though she is still different at heart. The problem is, she can’t find Oliver. She goes back to their beginning to examine her relationship with him, a strange mix of father, lover, abuser, teacher.
And then there is the question of Edith, a mysterious woman whose absence seems to haunt them both.
Originally published in 1977 and seemingly woven from the fragments of nightmares and fantasies, Find Him! is a paragon of Elaine Kraf’s iconoclastic style, challenging and captivating in equal measure.
The Modern Library Torchbearers Series features women who wrote on their own terms, with boldness, creativity, and a spirit of resistance.
