A book with a distrubing name

I finished Rape a love story by Joyce Carol Oates in one evening. The name of the book is interesting and disturbing at the same time and to be truthful, I hesitated and wondered if I'd want to read this book. A book about rape could be too heavy to handle.

The book is about Teena and her 12 year old daughter, Bethie. They make the wrong decision to walk home through the neighbourhood park one evening and are assaulted. Teena is gang-raped and left for dead, her daughter assaulted and left to witness these harrowing acts. Teena is so damaged by the attack that she withdraws into herself and wishes that she hadn't survived. Teena's reputation is spoilt and living in the community as her daughter is very hard for Bethie. Oates brings to life how difficult the aftermath is for all the people involved: the victims and their families and the families of the rapists themselves - everything is altered by this horrific act.

The love story in the title of the book can refer to a number of different kinds of love found in this book - for example; the love a daughter has for her mother, the kind of love one may feel secretly for someone or even fading love..

I've never read anything by Oates before, so this was something new for me. Rape a love story was worth picking up but it's a tough read.