1980NBA 1981
Plains Song: For Female Voices
Wright Morris · 1910–1998 · United States
Why it matters
Three generations of women on a Nebraska farm get the telling that the men's version of plains history always talked over: marriage, birth, and quiet rebellion rendered in spare, elliptical prose. Morris's second National Book Award winner recovers what agrarian myth-making left out.
At a glance
family sagapsychological novel
Difficulty 5/10slow pace229 pagesElliptical, understated prose withholds interior feeling rather than stating it outright.
Deep dive
A novel titled after a form of communal singing whose real subject is everything these women never said to each other out loud.
Where to go next
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Carol Shields · 1993The Stone DiariesLvl 5Medium pace
Jaimy Gordon · 2010Lord of MisruleLvl 6Slow burn
John Casey · 1989SpartinaLvl 4Medium pace