Miss Jane, Brad Watson
Miss Jane, Brad Watson
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Miss Jane
A Novel

Author: Brad Watson

Narrator: Tiffany Morgan

Unabridged: 9 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 10/21/2016

Synopsis

Astonishing prose brings to life a forgotten woman and a lost world in a strange and bittersweet Southern pastoral. 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. Now, drawing on the story of his own great-aunt, Watson explores the life of Miss Jane Chisolm, born in rural, early-twentieth-century Mississippi with a genital birth defect that would stand in the way of the central "uses" for a woman in that time and place: sex and marriage. From the highly erotic world of nature around her to the hard tactile labor of farm life, from the country doctor who befriends her to the boy who loved but was forced to leave her, Miss Jane Chisolm and her world are anything but barren. The potency and implacable cruelty of nature, as well as its beauty, is a trademark of Watson's fiction. In Miss Jane, the author brings to life a hard, unromantic past that is tinged with the sadness of unattainable loves, yet shot through with a transcendent beauty. Jane Chisolm's irrepressible vitality and generous spirit give her the strength to live her life as she pleases in spite of the limitations that others, and her own body, would place on her. Free to satisfy only herself, she mesmerizes those around her, exerting an unearthly fascination that lives beyond her still.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Candi on November 17, 2017

Miss Jane is a beautiful book which delivers a message that is both meditative and quietly powerful. Brad Watson relates a fictional account about a woman, Jane Chisolm, inspired by his real-life great aunt. He does so with a prose that is lyrical, elegant and soothing. Solidly character-driven, thi......more

Goodreads review by Karen on November 20, 2022

Oh…this quiet little book, drawing upon the life of the author's great aunt. Jane, born in rural, early twentieth century Mississippi, who was born with a genital defect, was so good. It was sad, that she had to live with the limitations this caused her, but she lived her life with a grace and stren......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader on April 08, 2017

The best kind of book inspires you, transports you, and wraps you up inside it. The main character of Miss Jane, Jane Chisholm, faced one of life's considerable obstacles with grace and fortitude. I felt sad at times because of the hardships Jane had, but as I was reading, the point the author was m......more

Goodreads review by Linda on January 04, 2017

This book quietly and tenderly tip-toed into my heart. It introduced me to each character so vividly that I felt like I was standing among them. I found myself so engaged that my reading pace slowed down as to not miss a word of what this disheartened family had to endure. Each member of the Chisolm......more

Goodreads review by Lindsay L on February 07, 2017

3 stars. I know I'm in the minority with having less than a 4 or 5 star rating. There is no doubt that this author writes beautifully. My less than excellent rating is based on my overall feelings throughout this book - I just couldn't help but feel saddened while reading this entire novel. My heart......more

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