RaveLos Angeles Review of BooksThe most surprising thing about The Vixen...is how laugh-aloud funny it is ... It is a testament to Prose’s mastery as a storyteller that what emerges is a penetrating look at the underside of comedy—namely, how the human condition can be so predictably cruel and paranoid. And yet, this is also a book steeped in the warmth of Jewish family life, post–World War II ... the underlying heartbeat of The Vixen isn’t political so much as literary—a book within a book that keeps the narrative thrumming ... Francine Prose’s higher purpose as a novelist is fully realized in this delicious coming-of-age story in which everyone is afraid, anyone can be accused, and disinformation runs rampant. This novel also comes at a perfect time in American history, as hard-won voting rights are being suppressed and the fabric of democracy itself torn apart. Prose deftly reminds us of a chapter from nearly 70 years ago, during the Red Menace hysteria, when the government could jail and kill a couple for passing on secrets to the Soviets. Or, in Ethel’s case, for typing them up for her brother.
