Gothic Saga Books In Order

Publication Order of The Gothic Saga Books

The Gothic Saga series is a popular book series of mystery, horror, Gothic, historical fiction, and fantasy genres. It is comprised of a total of 5 books, which were released between the years 1980 and 2013, and written by a well known novelist from America named Loyce Carol Oates. Each and every novel of this series is very successful and is well appreciated by the fans of author Joyce Oates. According to Joyce Oates, the books can be read in any order as the series are not linked with each other and neither does a particular story depend on the rest of the story. Every book in this intriguing series consists of a different set of primary characters, who play important roles to keep the readers engaged in the stories until the very end. A number of critics have reviewed the series’ books as being very complex and having a slow build ups throughout. The final puzzle piece and mystery are not revealed until the stories reach their conclusions. Even though the books have been published within the time period of 23 years, author Carol Oates had penned all of them in the 1980s. Carol Oates’ Gothic Saga begins with the first book titled Bellefleur and concludes with the final novel called The Accursed. Among the five books of this series, one is a collection of short stories and is given the title Mysteries of Winterthurn.

The debut novel of the Gothic Saga series written by Joyce Carol Oates is entitled ‘Bellefleur’. It was released by the Plume publication in the year 1991. Author Oates has mentioned the main characters in this book as the members of the Bellefleur family, including Gideon Bellefleur, Leah Bellefleur, and their 3 children. The plot takes place in Lake Noir in the New York State. At the start of this book’s story, it is shown that the Bellefleur family resides in a big mansion on the Lake Noir. They have acquired ownership of a lot of businesses and land, and have employed their neighbors. Because of the high status of the Bellefleurs, they are able to influence the government. The Bellefleur family includes millionaires, a seeker of spiritualism, a murderer, and several other eccentrics. This novel follows the story of several generations of Bellefleurs. Gideon Bellefleur is the patriarch of the family, who passes his psychic abilities to one of his 3 children from his wife named Leah. Author Joyce has described the Bellefleurs as a notorious and wealthy clan. The place where they live is a huge mansion located on the mythic shores of Lake Noir. The book’s story traces the a few generations’ lives of this unusual family. Gideon Bellefleur is at the center of the whole story and he is joined by his beautiful, somewhat psychic, and imperious wife, Leah. This couple has three children in all. One of those children has psychic abilities that seem quite frightening to many people. Other than this family, the mansion and the environs are inhabited by the relatives, servants, and domestic helps, living as well as dead. The story of all these characters together offers an important look into the changeableness, eternity, soul, space, time, physicality, and pride of the world versus love. This book serves as an allegory of Cupiditas versus Caritas, selflessness and love versus selfishness and pride. Many readers have labeled the book as a unique description of baffling complexity, mystery, and change. Author Oates seems to have written this book with a startling immediacy and voluptuousness that transcends her early works. A number of critics believe that this book is a work of literary genius and can very well be regarded as a masterpiece.

The next installment of this wonderful series written by Joyce Oates is called ‘A Bloodsmoor Romance’. It was published by the Jonathan Cape publishers in the year 1983. Author Carol Oates has set this novel’s story in the 19th century. This book follows the life stories of five beautiful and young Zinn sisters. As their life moves ahead with the ups and downs, they stick to their decision of refusing the obligations of the Christian marriage for most parts of their lives. This book appears to fill with the mordant wit of author Oates. The story is told in a breathless tone, and in the style of the Victorian age. The unnamed narrator seems extremely shocked by the sexuality, rude rejection for their time’s mores, and impulsivity of the Zinn sisters. Several critics think that this novel is a delicious filigree and consists of literary conventions. Some have even termed it as a mannerful novel, just like in the traditions of Alcott, Austen, and Dickens. In this particular book, author Oates has tried to explore the darkness filled with the minds of people at that time and has interviewed mayhem and murder, abductions, ghosts, gender identity, substance abuse, women’s suffrage, the spiritualist movement in America, and last but not the least, the Zinn sisters’ sexual aberration. The sisters are depicted as coming in contact with a few of the greatest characters fro the nineteenth century, ranging from Oscar Wilde to Mark Twain. This book also serves as American landscape’s biting assessment and a literary genre’s virtuosic transformation. On the whole, the book is very much magical, hilarious, and compelling. It provides a challenging, surreal, long, and highly layered read. The readers and the critics realize after reading this book that author Joyce Carol has attempted to defy total categorization by writing this masterpiece. With such a wonderful story to tell, the book opened to great reviews and became a worldwide success immediately after its release. The immense success gave author Joyce a lot of boost and motivation to continue writing such intriguing stories. Even the critics and reviewers praised her efforts and appreciated her style of storytelling. Joyce Oates was able to gather a much wider fan base after this book’s success. This helped her to become an even more popular author of her time. She has said in her interviews that she owes all the success and praises to her readers and fans, who kept her motivated all the time and supported her throughout her writing career. After the release of this book, author Joyce went on to write two more books and a short story collection in the series, all of which also gained success and allowed her to acquire more name and fame in places far and wide.