Miss Jane: A Novel
-
-
4.3 • 72 Ratings
-
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
Longlisted for the National Book Award and a Washington Post Best Book of the Year
"Gorgeous…A writer of profound emotional depths." —New York Times Book Review
Since his award-winning debut collection of stories, Last Days of the Dog-Men, Brad Watson has been expanding the literary traditions of the South in work as melancholy, witty, strange, and lovely as any in America. Drawing on the true story of his great-aunt, he explores the life of Miss Jane Chisolm, born in rural, early-twentieth-century Mississippi with a genital birth defect that excludes her from the roles traditional for a woman of her time and place and frees her to live her life as she pleases. With irrepressible vitality and generosity of spirit, Miss Jane mesmerizes those around her, exerting an unearthly fascination that lives beyond her still.
Customer Reviews
Miss Jane
Beautifully written. I feel as close to these characters as if they were beloved family. Jane's life and how she dealt with her condition is told with a straightforwardness that brings out its innocent truth in an almost poetic way. Reminds me of old stories of my grandmother's time, when she would finish them with, "That's just the way it was back then."
A sad tale of rural life
Exceptionally well written story of a unique individual who adjusts to her own particularly difficult life with intelligence and grace. A very melancholy novel devoid of smiles and humor. Everybody is bummed out all of the time. Lots of nice descriptions of nature. I could have done without the ‘Old Shep’ scene.