An Academician in Midlife Crisis with Family Issues

A review of Our Lady of the Prairie by Thisbe Nissen (2018: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

So this is a fascinating and creative mix of following this theatre professor through the upheaval of a year or so of her life, including her failing marriage to another theatre professor, her often very ill adult daughter, the drama of the daughter's upcoming marriage, meeting a new lover who is also in academia, interacting with the Amish community and other locals, and her mysterious and cranky mother in law. It's a cornucopia of all sorts of characters!

Because I am an academician, the academic angle is especially interesting to me and some of it is puzzling but it's also interesting. All of this is set against the mystery of the mother in law's possible past in world war two France, as well as the 2004 US presidential election. The election provides lots of funny and not so funny commentary that is quite timely given the 2016 election craziness.

It's an enjoyable read. I found the flashback bits to the mother in law's possible past a bit lengthy but otherwise it's interesting and well written and full of interesting characters and human emotions and interactions, and lots of family and midlife issues.

A solid four stars.

4/5 stars