The Utterly Unacceptable Atrocity of Isabelle Marsden - by Nan Sanders Pokerwinski (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine will be drawn to this tale of a woman whose search for a healing refuge leads instead to entanglements, discovery of untapped talent, and a found family that steers her back from the brink of madness.

All Isabelle Marsden wants when she moves from Chicago to Kansas is a place to retreat, reassess, and regain control of her life after an ugly #MeToo experience. But after a chance encounter with a free-spirited artist who carries a wallaby in a baby sling and makes assemblages from roadkill, she's drawn into a community of eccentrics who soon have her lobbying to rescue their Summer Solstice parade, conducting surveillance at a roadside zoo, and visiting an outsider artist's strange, yet intriguing, sculpture garden.

Inspired by that wild creation, Belle starts her own peculiar assemblage, convinced it's the key to repairing her fractured life. As she uncovers her hidden creativity--and madness--her project lands her in trouble with her landlady, the city zoning department, and even the police. Ultimately, her only way through is to rely on help from her found family of oddball characters--and on her newly redefined self.

Review Quotes

"Read this book for inspiration, as a respite, or just because it has a capybara. A story with colorful, eccentric, delightful characters who do whimsical, unconventional, and amusing things."--Ellen Barker, author of East of Troost, Still Needs Work, and The Breaks

". . . Pokerwinski's tale of irresistible eccentricities celebrates the mystical power of art in bringing together a community, especially when unexpected forces fan hidden sparks into an uncontainable celebration of individual expression."--Erika Nelson, Cultural Resources Director, S.P. Dinsmoor's Garden of Eden

About the Author

Nan Sanders Pokerwinski is a former journalist who has appreciated unconventional art and eccentric people all her life. Her blog, Heartwood (www.nanpokerwinski.com/blog), celebrates creativity, connection, and contentment. A daughter of the Heartland who grew up in Oklahoma and lived in Kansas for six years, she spent one pivotal year on a tropical island, which she chronicled in her memoir Mango Rash: Coming of Age in the Land of Frangipani and Fanta (Behler Publications, 2019). Nan now writes from Newaygo, Michigan.