LONGLISTED FOR THE 2016 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION The acclaimed author of Last Days of the Dog-Men and The Heaven of Mercury brings to life a forgotten woman and a lost world in a strange and bittersweet pastoral "Exquisitely written ... a novel that will linger inside you as long as your own memories do. Brad Watson's gifts are immense." Andre Dubus III Since his award-winning debut collection of stories, Last Days of the Dog-Men, Brad Watson's work has been as melancholy, witty, strange, and lovely as any in America. Inspired by the true story of his own great-aunt, he 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 - namely, sex and marriage. From the country doctor who adopts Jane to the hard tactile labor of farm life, from the sensual and erotic world of nature around her to the boy who loved but was forced to leave her, the world of Miss Jane Chisolm is anything but barren. Free to satisfy only herself, she mesmerizes those around her, exerting an unearthly fascination that lives beyond her still.

Author Biography

Brad Watson teaches creative writing at the University of Wyoming, Laramie. His first collection, Last Days of the Dog-Men, won the Sue Kaufman Award for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; his first novel, The Heaven of Mercury, was shortlisted for the National Book Award, and his second story collection Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives was shortlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. 'Watson's talent is singular, truly awesome; he reminds me of Raymond Carver, Flannery O'Connor, Chris Offutt in his bravery, his unflinching willingness to look at what might set others running.' A.M. Homes 'Superb . . . Watson . . . has a great heart, and this great heart has made him a great writer.' Independent