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Zusatztext I really admired Brad Watson's limpid novel Miss Jane about a woman born with an irreparable and humiliating physical anomaly who manages to fashion a rich and enigmatic life despite all odds. Informationen zum Autor 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 Klappentext In this hauntingly affecting and bittersweet novel, Brad Watson brings to life the story of a forgotten woman and a lost world. Inspired by the true story of his own great-aunt, in Miss Jane he tells the story of the life of Jane Chisolm, born in early twentieth-century rural Mississippi with a birth defect that will come to stand in the way of the central 'uses' for a woman in that time and place - namely, sex and marriage. Yet from the country doctor who adopts her to the hard tactile labour of farm life, from the sensual world of nature around her to the boy who loves but is forced to leave her, the world of Miss Jane Chisolm is anything but barren. Watson brings to life a hard, unromantic past in a story 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, place upon her. Free to satisfy only herself, she mesmerizes those around her, as she comes to live a life of quiet nobility and deeply moving dignity. Vorwort 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; a life of quiet nobility and dignity lived against the background of the American century. For readers of Lori Lansens' The Girls , Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café and Robert Seethaler's A Whole Life . Zusammenfassung 'As unexpectedly beguiling as it is affecting.' Daily Mail 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. ...
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The complexity and drama of Watson's gorgeous work here is life's as well: Sometimes physical realities expand us, sometimes trap; sometimes heroism lies in combating our helplessness, sometimes in accepting it. A writer of profound emotional depths, Watson does not lie to his reader, so neither does his Jane. She never stops longing for a wholeness she may never know, but she is determined that her citizenship in the world, however onerous, be dragged into the light and there be lived without apology or perfection or pity. New York Times
