Our Lady of the Prairie, Thisbe Nissen
Our Lady of the Prairie, Thisbe Nissen
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Our Lady of the Prairie

Author: Thisbe Nissen

Narrator: Hillary Huber

Unabridged: 15 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/23/2018

Synopsis

A sharp and bitingly funny novel about a professor whose calm-ish midwestern life gives way to a vortex of crises—and her attempts to salvage the pieces without going to pieces herselfIn the space of a few torrid months on the Iowa prairie, Phillipa Maakestad—long-married theater professor and mother of an unstable daughter—grapples with a life turned upside down. After falling headlong into a passionate affair during a semester spent teaching in Ohio, Phillipa returns home to Iowa for her daughter Ginny’s wedding. There, Phillipa must endure (among other things) a wedding-day tornado, a menace of a mother-in-law who may or may not have been a Nazi collaborator, and the tragicomic revenge fantasies of her heretofore docile husband.Naturally, she does what any newly liberated woman would do: she takes a match to her life on the prairie and then steps back to survey the wreckage.Set in the seething political climate of a contentious election, Thisbe Nissen’s new novel is sexy, smart, and razor-sharp—a freight train barreling through the heart of the land and the land of the heart.

About Thisbe Nissen

Thisbe Nissen is the author of the story collection Out of the Girls’ Room and into the Night and the novels The Good People of New York and Osprey Island. Her fiction has appeared in the Iowa Review and the American Scholar, among other publications, and her nonfiction has appeared in Vogue and Glamour. She teaches at Western Michigan University and lives in Battle Creek, Michigan, with her husband, writer Jay Baron Nicorvo, and their son.

About Hillary Huber

Hillary Huber is one of the most successful voice talents in Los Angeles. Recent books read for Blackstone Audio include Him, Her, Him Again, the End of Him by Patricia Marx, A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read, and A Map of Glass by Jane Urquhart.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jay

FULL DISCLOSURE: The author of this novel deigned to marry me about a decade ago, so I'm eagerly biased, but the reason she said "I do" was because of my very eager biases. With that out of the way, OUR LADY OF THE PRAIRIE, a dozen years in the making, is the best, most ambitious fiction Thisbe Nisse......more

Goodreads review by Glen

I won this novel in a goodreads drawing. In the year 2000, a Jewish liberal Iowan woman has a mid-life crisis and goes to Paris. It's humorous, if you still think jokes about George W. Bush are a riot.......more

Goodreads review by Peebee

From the description, I thought I would really enjoy this book, but it was really kind of a trainwreck. I'm the same age as the protagonist Philippa, so it seemed like the kind of "hen lit" that I've aged into, and it was billed as a funny book. But it was rather depressing instead. Philippa is all......more

Quotes

“A long-married and long-suffering Midwestern mother is hit with a political, emotional, and literal tornado.” Vanity Fair

“A parable or a revenge fantasy [Our Lady of the Prairie] reveal[s] something that runs much deeper and darker than mere extramarital passion.” New York Times Book Review

“Wonderfully witty…A satirical take on the serene Midwestern life and an insightful, comical look at a woman whose life starts to unravel at breakneck speed.” Chicago Review of Books

“Brazen, sexy, and whip smart: We adored this ode to the power and spirit of feisty Midwestern women.” Refinery 29

“The wholesome Midwestern setting provides rich humor…While adultery is at the heart of this delightful novel, Phillipa and the extensive cast of supporting characters exhibit kindness and forgiveness at every plot twist.” Shelf Awareness

“Investigating dysfunction and cynicism with humor, Nissen writes a descriptive novel filled with vulnerable and complicated characters who are often all too human.” Library Journal

“With humor, grace, and honesty, Nissen’s three heroines ride an emotional roller coaster as they reconcile their respective pasts, ride out a turbulent present, and, hopefully, secure a more serene future.” Booklist

“Nissen excels at capturing her protagonist as a woman on the edge—the elation, the sex, the emotional roller coaster, the questionable choices.” Publishers Weekly

“A bold and ambitious look into the roiling emotions of a woman caught between should and could, between I must and I want.” Joshua Ferris, author of Then We Came to the End

“Our Lady of the Prairie delivers this wonderful author’s characteristic wit, layered with delicious dysfunction, poignancy, and heart.” Elinor Lipman, author of On Turpentine Lane

Awards

  • Vanity Fair Hot Type
  • Book Riot Pick
  • Chicago Review of Books Pick
  • Refinery29 Pick
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