Some of our best artists seem blessed with a type of clairvoyance, or at least a deep understanding of the zeitgeist that feels like clairvoyance. This seems especially true of Joyce Carol Oates, who's taken our peculiarly American darkness as her subject matter throughout her career. In her latest, A Book of American Martyrs, Oates is at her most incisive, wrenching and timely.

When extremist Luther Dunphy murders OB/GYN Augustus Voorhees and his driver, it's clear that the two are American martyrs—but they are only ground zero. Their martyrdom spreads out in circles, like hard radiation, to make collateral damage of wives, children, parents, siblings and innocent bystanders. Even Dunphy is a martyr of sorts. He goes quietly when the cops come for him; he doesn't plead for his life when he faces the death penalty. But Oates understands that "martyr" doesn't mean "saint." Both men are unyielding in their beliefs: For the evangelical Christian Dunphy, abortion is murder; for the atheist Voorhees, a woman's right to her body is inviolable.

Even as she anatomizes this latest American schism, Oates touches on her usual obsessions. We have the almost casual brutality with which men treat women. Parents fail in a million ways, but only mothers are not forgiven for it. Pregnancy and childbirth are, at best, biological tragedies. There's boxing. Yet Oates finds a path to empathy, compassion and perhaps even reconciliation. Once again, Oates proves that she remains one of our most necessary authors.

This article was originally published in the February 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

In 1999 in rural Ohio, "Army of God" antiabortionist Luther Dunphy assassinates OB/GYN Gus Voorhees and his volunteer driver outside of the clinic where Dr. Voorhees provides abortions. The families of the two men are torn apart as wives and children are left to deal with the aftermath, with Oates's narrative moving among Luther's account of his life before and after the killing and the lives of his daughter, Dawn, and Gus's daughter, Naomi. Naomi's and Dawn's converging paths as aspiring documentary filmmaker and promising boxer are particularly compelling as each young woman battles her demons and holds the hope for some future reconciliation. The result is a timely tale of two divided American families and their respective journeys through the grief of losing fathers, sons, and husbands. VERDICT Best-selling, award-winning author Oates (We Were the Mulvaneys) hardly needs introduction, and her satisfying, multilayered offering will surely be in demand. Book groups would do well to add this to their springtime fare for lively discussion material. In the light of recent American political events, questions put forward by Oates's latest should be addressed, even if clear answers may be hard to find. [See Prepub Alert, 8/15/16.]—Jennifer B. Stidham, Houston Community Coll. Northeast