We Were the Mulvaneys is a 1996 novel written by Joyce Carol Oates. It tells the story of loving, close-knit family that slowly gets torn apart over the years by a myriad of events, leaving them unable to repair the damage done and find the lost unity they once had. Oates has crafted a powerful story that is filled with love and loss, demonstrating the fragility of relationships and the ability of time and trouble to disintegrate them.
The novel follows the Mulvaney family, who live on a farm in rural New York. Run by Mike and Corinne Mulvaney, the family includes their four grown children – Marion, Judd, Patrick and Michael - plus a daughter-in-law and grandson. The family is held together by the passionate love of the Mulvaneys, and their relationships are as close-knit as it gets.
Everything changes, however, on Valentines Day, 1976. A party thrown for the family leads to a heinous crime that turns the Mulvaneys’ world upside down and causes a fracture that leaves the family unable to recover. Mike, who feels responsible and guilty for the crime, distances himself from Corinne and their children, causing the family to slowly and painfully unravel.
The decade after the incident sees the Mulvaneys drift further and further apart. Corinne moves away, Michael marries and starts his own family, Patrick finds solace in drugs and alcohol, Judd lives with an adoptive family, and Marion follows her passions to college.
By the mid-1980s, it looks like the family will never be reunited. Desperate for a way to mend their family, the Mulvaneys find their answer in a miraculous event: the re-discovery of the yellow farmhouse that Mike and Corinne had shared so many years before.
The return to their original home brings the family back together and hands them a chance to repair the damage they’d endured in the decade that had passed. With persistence, patience and sheer determination, the family reunites and restores the intimacy and unity they had lost so long before.
We Were the Mulvaneys is a heartbreaking and ultimately triumphant tale of family dynamics and what can happen when hope persists. Oates does an incredibly nuanced job of capturing the characters and their emotions; every individual stands out with their own unique story and impact on the family dynamic. It’s a vivid, emotional and unflinchingly honest look at the fragility of relationships and the power of family that will stay with you long after the book is done.
